OK, third option.
Dug up the Kromlec bits I bought way back. Have 2 sets, includes a backpack, but not a huge fan. But the arm works. I have one left handed heavy bolt pistol remaining, used here. Extra grubbins as requested. Second pistol, medic bag, tubes and such. Much better feel with this one.
The stuff on top of the backpack will probably be trimmed to be a little shorter, to integrate better. He does need a new head. I was hoping to find a primaris one with optics, one did not leap to hand at first pass. I’ve got a billion spare heads, and they are not sorted well.
Put a few more licks of paint down, forgot to grab pics despite being right there with the camera.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Also in the news the Heavy Intercessors I ordered showed up. So now the question is how to build them.
Probably not assault. There are some arguments for it, but honestly if I’m going to be that aggressively forward, I’m probably already there with infiltrators or want a sarge with a power weapon to help fend off the inevitable close combat.
The heavy snipers look like they would do mean things to marines. It’s the meta choice as my primary opponent is a Salamander. The fact that he ignores AP1 makes it doubly good. Downside, I’d feel dirty.
Rapid Fire is the classic middle option. Very Ultramarine. The fact I can move and shoot in tac doctrine like I’m standing still helps.
I suspect these guys are going to be rapid fire, and the eventual second squad of 5 will be snipers. I’m not going to magnetize magazines; too small and fiddly.
Also also in the news, subscribed to the Warhammer+ streaming thing for a year. I figure I should be able to get enough entertainment out of it to justify the price. When you figure the free mini and a rebate voucher, not hard to do.
Sometimes it take a lot of hard work to get a head in this world.
Search parameters were something with optics, preferably primaris. Bare heads had to be focused, not yelling. Bunch of hits, although a lot of them were old style helms which didn’t really grab me. Best ones were either bare, or the half helms from the infiltrator/incursor box. Narrowed it down to these two.
The question is “Is less actually more?” Something to be said for the simple elegance of the basic bionic eye. But also for the exrta lights and grubbins on the fancy head, which fits in with SM characters and the modern aesthetic.
Cleaning up the first heavy intercessor I’m a little unhappy. In a lot of the starter box easy build models they made compromises with part count vs. molding. You’d end up with layers merging into each other due to lack of undercuts. This normally showed up on shoulderpads and backpack vents, but sometimes legs. Getting a bit of that from the HI backpacks, and the leg plates. I’m a lot more forgiving for discount stater minis, but this is a full kit. I should not have to break out my square file and hobby knife at this level.
But besides that, going fine. Got a new head for the sarge while I had them out.
And some paint.
Guy one the left is ready for his ink, others still need the second blue.
Gitsplitta wrote: I must admit I'm not a fan of that first head... The second reminds me of the Apoth in the "Space Marine" movie.
I’m not a huge fan of the raised visor, but it’s got all the accessories for the job. The other one is very simple, which might actually work with the relatively unadorned body.
Nothing glued at this point, so I can still swap arms and such around if people have ideas.
So a few last minute swaps. Decided on a simpler backpack. Gun arm swapped for one more off the the side, rather than cross body. Went with the bare head. The one with all the bits had an odd cut on the neck, probably to fit at a certain angle in the phobos armor. Did not want to line up, so got the boot. While I have an assortment of plasticard rods and tubes, none of the tubes were the right size, so I drilled out a rod like it was a gun barrel and cut it at an angle for the needle. Drilled a bigger hole in the arm to set it.
Back angle shot.
Legs still feel like they need something, might poke around the grubbins pile and/or just slap some more purity seals down. Or freehand a helix on one of them. Going to have to do that for a shoulder anyway.
First of the thic boys done, the sarge:
Glued the head to a nail to paint seperate. Non-helmented heads set back in the gravis armor seems like it would be a pain. If “Heavy Metal” wins the subject poll, I want to get these guys from sprue to done in the month. Better get clipping!
OK, mustered up and ready to be primed. I should check the humidity out, see if tonight works.
Not a lot of painting progress over the weekend. Spent a chunk of it removing a twisted stub of a street sign out of my yard. One day was digging, and then stopping when it got deeper then I could do without killing myself. Next step was using my hobby dremel with some cutting disks to trim it off about a foot below the ground line. Shockingly, I’m a bit achy and not up for fine detail work. Remember kids: Don’t get old, it’s a trap.
I still want to finish the stalker rifle intercessors before the end of the month, but that’s probably not going to be happening. I can see what progress I can make over the weekend, but I have The Boy for most of it, so who knows how much bench time I’ll get. The heavy intercessors are going to be my entry for next month, which will do good things for my demi-company goal.
Hope everyone’s week is off to a f=good start, --Nev
Edit: primed over lunch. Will check to make sure it went on clean next break. Perks of WFH.
Prime down. Not to make room on the handles. Second blues done on all of them. Ink and edges next. Plus all the cleanup. Arms and such can be finished when they’ve made room for the month’s project.
So a productive weekend so far. These guys are all done. This brings the gaunts up to a round 20 bugs, and finishes off the SBR front half.
And unless I’ve done my math wrong, that’s 52 models for the year.
I thought this was going to be my Q3 picture, but that’s not until the end of the month. Oh well, here is a summery anyway. It’s a Sunday morning rambling kind of thing to do anyway.
So that’s my 1-a-week goal, with about a third of the year to go. 7/12 spare bits. Need to step up the pace on those. Battle Company is well on track. I’ve got the first blues down on the heavy intercessors, and the bike still plodding along. The 20 marines is pretty much set unless something drastic happens. Getting my primaris collection to a full Demi-co stretch goal is looking good as well. Once I finish everything WIP, I’ll have the front half of all the battleline squads, 10 close assault brothers, but only 5 heavy support (the old hellblasters). So in the last 3 months I’ll need to paint either 5 more hellblasters, or 2 of the 3 man squads (Eradiacators, Aggressors, Supressors). Plus the last biker, because I hate leaving squads unfinished. If the November painting comp fits any of the 3 mans, I’ll probably go with the 2x3, else I’ll do the Hellblasters for the Dec open round.
On the Nid front I’ll paint what time and space allows. Doing 3 man squads opens up handles for running little gribbles across in tandem with other projects. I would like to finish at lease 6 more stealers, so I have a full 10 man squad that matches my modern scheme. And probably another unit or two. I think I’m almost at parity for keeping them Pile of Shame neutral after last year’s mega box. I’d like to get a little ahead of the curve in case another big bargain wanders across my path. Or we get a new codex. Or both.
October will be nighthaunts. I should build some more undead, just to keep levels up. I keep getting tempted to buy some of the new stuff, as soulblight is really the Dead army I play, and the recent releases are quite nice. But I should clear the Pile a bit more first. No reason to rush. Although still a bit torqued I missed the Cursed City.
Nice! Always good when things are running bit ahead.
Both the bugs and the intercessors look good, and sounds like the armies are both coming along nicely. Hopefully everything stays running well!
So far, so good.
Putting down some basecoats. I really need to clean up the blue on the bike, just no desire to do so. I did touch up his browns while I had it out for the new guys.
Updated the Nids in Battlescribe, they are at 1,372 points with normal upgrades. Can I get that to 1,500 by the end of the year? Maybe? You would think that 130 points isn’t that much, until you realize that the 20 bug blob of termagants I have is 110. Admittedly, the ones in the to-paint pile are all devigaunts, so cost more PPM then the basic fleshborers that make up 3/4ths of what I currently have finished. Painting the hive guard would do it if I can fit them into the painting cycle. If not, it’s going to be a lot of gribblies.
Thinking I might actually do squad number decals for the primaris company. I think once the heavy intercessors are done I’ll break out everyone onto the table and work out who’s who. I know I’ve run lists of the even and odd squads of my old firstborn company, would be nice to try to balance things so that can still work. But there is also something to be said for having the front half just be 50 guys in power armor, and the back half all the odd squads (or vice versus)
Incremental steps are incremental. But steps forward. Done with washes and drybrushing. Next is the clean up blue. Which is where the bike is at, so I should make sure he gets done as well.
Gitsplitta wrote: Just keep hammering away at it Nev. You're making great progress!
Thanks for the support. It really helps.
Put the second blue on the bike this morning. Ugh. So much hate for those things. It’s all bad angles and undercuts that you can still mostly see, but getting a brush to is a massive PITA. Honestly, I think I might just paint these on the sprue next time (which there probably won’t be). Of course if I did that, there would be massive seems and what not. Just the ink and all the tidy up work left on him. Then just one more to go.
Hopefully I’ll get to the HIs this afternoon. And I should pick something to work on building/cleaning up. Lots of sprues around, not going to get out of the Pile of Shame on it’s own.
Heavy Intercessors are looking good so far. I really need to pick up some of those for my Dark Angels (and perhaps some for my Wolves as well). I also need to get back to my long-neglected P&M blog; lots to talk about but a bit overwhelmed by how much content I've got for it.
ZergSmasher wrote: Heavy Intercessors are looking good so far. I really need to pick up some of those for my Dark Angels (and perhaps some for my Wolves as well). I also need to get back to my long-neglected P&M blog; lots to talk about but a bit overwhelmed by how much content I've got for it.
Just like the painting, one bit at a time. Just because you have a lot going on doesn’t mean you need to info-dump it all in one post. Maybe give a quick teaser of what’s in store, then what you have time/energy to write up. Leave them wanting more; keeps ‘em coming back. How would wolves do in gravis armor? Seems like it would be hard to fit all the wild hair/beards in there. Although thematically, it seems they might be the last stop before longfangs. Pondering that, how to wolves do progression with primaris? Instead of switching units, maybe they switch guns? Lots of primaris units have the assault/rapid fire/heavy options for guns. Blood Claws are given an assault bolter/plasma/heavy assault rifle, and use it till they calm down and they get the rapid fire version? I should probably not think about too hard. I suspect they did the same level of work integrating primaris into the other chapters as they did codex marines, which is to say a pretty piss-poor job. Or actually look up the answer. I suspect they fit just fine into a greenwing DA force. Standing around shooting guys is kinda their thing while all the fancy guys zip/DS around.
The HIs were a little more irritating to work with. Backpack vents needed to be carved out, arms a little harder to line up. Nothing horrid, just a little less fun the a normal marine kit. I also found it harder to get pistols/pouches/grubbins on them. Painting is ticking along nicely, although I’m expecting a screeching halt when I get to edging. Gravis armor has more nooks, crannies, and ridges than normal.
Put the blue down on one guy and started the guns last night. It’s amazing how a Saturday can just drift along with absolutely nothing getting done on any front. Oh well. I’ve got all today to waste.
Keep plugging away Nev, they are looking good so far. I recently finished mine and have used them in 3 games so far. They performed well vs space wolves but not so much vs t-sons. Looking forward to how they work for you.
Yorkright wrote: Keep plugging away Nev, they are looking good so far. I recently finished mine and have used them in 3 games so far. They performed well vs space wolves but not so much vs t-sons. Looking forward to how they work for you.
Mine are going to have the complication of going up against Salamanders primarily. The whole “we ignore AP-1” think they have going on screws up a lot of math. Especially with doctrines.
JoshInJapan wrote:I still get shocked every time I see the patchy first coat of blue you start with, and am then surprised with how well they turn out.
I hear you. The first blue is almost there as a placeholder as I block in the rest of the colors. But also part of the “2 thin coats” mantra. Of course, they get 3, the last of which is a very saturated ink glaze. I could probably skip it if I had better brush control a/o used a wet pallet to get my paints to the right consistency all the time. I thin my paints by dipping my brush in a clean drop of water and then doing a rough dilute on the lip of the pot. Not ideal, and one of my many bad habits. But it works for me. Maybe one day I’ll try just one blue coat before the wash and see how it turns out.
In other news, the cat I rescued from the shelter a little over 3 months ago finally came out of hiding for pettings yesterday. And again at 3 in the morning. I’ll take what I can get.
Nothing I need to get revealed in the GenCon news, which is a good thing. It will be interesting to see if there are any marine wide releases when the BT stuff drops. Not sure what I’d do if they re-did scouts for the primaris range generically, rather then just neophytes for crusader squads. Their role has been largely taken by phobos marines. All scouts would bring would be less bells and whistles and a lower point cost. But that 10th company won’t fill itself up, and I’m a sucker. We’ll see what shows up. More curious to see if they roll that flamer guy out into a squad of like-armed peers. Or just cut to the chase and give us primaris tac squads.
I want to get into the new KT, but GW is not giving me an onramp. Going to have to wait for marines to come out of the compendium. Those rules just do not excite me. And I’m not going to drop $100+ the rules to play just placeholders. Honestly, if GW just gave us the rules I’d start all sorts of hobby projects and buy all kinds of models. But the fact that I need to pay huge amounts for short lived dead tree shelfwarmers kills so many things before they start. I’m a hair’s breadth away from grabbing a SC: GSC box to give the magus I painted last month some friends for a little KT cult/ally force. The issue is once I start buying rules, I want to maintain them. And right now I’m already committed to SM/Eldar/Tyranid codexes, plus all the core books.
Don’t forget that today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. One of the holy days of the Pastafarians. So spice up your language with archaic nautical terms, drink some rum, and have a meal in the image of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. May he watch over us and guide us with his noodly appendages. Ramen.
GenCon reveals also not of any real interest for me. Lately, GW releases are seeming dull or unattainable.
The latest boys in blue are coming along nicely.
The middle bit had me thinking. Unless you are a crazed loon with money burning a hole in your pocket, you can never need allGW’s releases. We are always going to just be interested in a sub-set of what gets put out. Now I play a few armies, so am a little more open. But GW is also pushing a lot of side games. While I’ve still got some WHFB hooks in me tugging me towards AoS, I’ve not succumbed to necromunda, titanicus, or most of the other specialist games. 30k is a bit twitchy, we’ll see if I can escape that lure. And KT is something I want to get into, but the cost of entry is high and with half of that for placeholder rules.
Marine stuff has been hit or miss? Winners that I picked up are the Bladeguard Vets and Assault intercessors. Lot of fun with both those kits. The Heavy intercessors I’m working on now are kinda a middle of the road thing. They have solid rules, and fill a battlefield role I need (tough anchor unit) I don’t mind the look, but didn’t buy them for that. As a kit, kinda a pain. Bike chaplain and the Gladiator are on my short list. But the ATV, Speeder, Bunkers, Turrets, full Eradicator kit; those I can pass on.
Eldar and Nids havn’t seen anything new in a while. Although the Banshees are not that old, an a lovely kit.
Cursed City I would have bought once I could get a discount on it. File that one under “unobtainable” I doo love what they’ve done with the soulblight. Vampires were always a big part of my Undead army, and the new kits look great.
All the other stuff I see come out looks cool, but not “I need to start a new army” cool. That might just be me getting old and slow. I remember the shiny model syndrome of my youth. It burned hot, and was hard to resist. I just don’t feel that pull anymore. Could be my current fiscal situation. I bought a house, need to keep a closer eye on expenses. I’m not tightening my belt back to the “Is it load bearing” level it has been in the past, but I’m not dropping big bucks casually. Older and wiser.
Put the blue ink on 2 more marines this morning. Month is running out, I need to get moving. “Almost done” leaves all the fiddly edge work and stuff I’m not fond of, plus fine detail enough I can’t just do it in scraps of time, or while the morning’s coffee has me wired.
Captain Brown wrote: Keep at it Nevelon, it is not called the long painting war for nothing.
CB
Well, when you run out of minis to paint is when you die. Still a ways out from that.
So edged the bike and did the last cleanup bit on him. Popped him off the base to work on that. Still needs decals.
While not everything is in focus, this is a snapshot of how my Ultras get their blues.
Arms are sloppy first coat.
2 guys on the left are after the second thin blue
3 on the right have their inks
Bike is edged.
Moved the last bike up to glare at me. He’ll get paint, hopefully soonish. I need to think if I’m just going to paint chainrasps for next month, or build some of the remaining dead things from the Pile of Shame. Running out of month to plan/build if I’m going to deviate from the easy out.
Between last night and this morning I finished inking the guys and did the second blues on half the arms. Rocks and tufts on the bike, waiting for flock. And decals. At this point that will probably done all at once when the marines are done.
Sometimes projects get like that, slow crawl of nothing gets done, and then everything just drops to done at once, whoch is a nice feeling. Looking good!
Just need to ink the arms and edge everything. Plus decals/base/cleanup. Getting there. Put the first blue down on the last biker. One layer at a time is how they get finished.
Boring personal stuff:
Spoiler:
So life is getting better. Finished training for a new team at work, should be switching over next week. While a re-boot with a totally new practice, billing system, specialization, and team, still the same company. So hopefully work will be a lot less stressful. Although it’s a major slam out of my comfort zone as pretty much everything is changing.
Izzy, the cat I rescued from the shelter last June, has warmed up and gotten more comfortable over the last few weeks. Still lives under my bed, and only makes tentative excursions during the day. She mostly comes out at night. Mostly. But if you sit/lie down in my bedroom, she will come out for pettings and scritches. And I’ve yet to find the upper limit of how long she will endure them. To the point where if she is not getting petted, she will aggressively head-but your hand until you start. Which is nice, but if I roll over in my sleep, she things it’s go-time, and will find my hand. I need to keep them tucked under the pillows. But every day she gets more comfortable and less skittish. Which is nice, as for the first 3 months I had her I felt like I was her jailor, and keeping her in a life of misery and fear.
Arms inked, 3/5th of the marines have their blue edges. Which is the bad part. I do go over them with red/silver, but that’s just a couple things per guy. All the armor is the issue. Mostly the legs and feet on gravis armor. The backpacks are actually a lot easier than normal, being bigger and clunkier.
Would have been nicer to get more done over the weekend, but is what it is. I’ll try to finish the edges tonight, so I can move on to the final steps. Would not be the first entry to have flock still drying in their formal pic on the deadline.
Edit: all blue edges done. Might do the reds, but need to rest first. Week off to a rough start.
Smurfs are coming along nicely. Glad to hear your kitty is getting less skittish; some cats are just like that, scared of everything for a while. She'll get over it eventually; then she'll declare herself your master and your existence will be for the sole purpose of serving her. I used to live with cats, I know how they are. And I'd rather have one of those than any dog I've ever seen.
Cats > Dogs. While we had a dog when I was growing up, I’m a cat person. I still need to get better storage options. Even though the door to my workshop is always closed, that’s probably not going to be enough long term to deter cat invasions. Nature finds a way.
So good progress. Did the reds last night, glued this morning. Still need to do the clean up passes, but almost there. Decals and bases left.
Moved the chainrasps down to the bench. There are 10 of them, going to see if I can finish the lot of them in a month. I’ve got 10 more unbuilt I need to do, but that’s the last of the soul wars box. I do have a spue of black knights/hexwraiths and one of skeletons still to build for my undead.
One of my weekend projects was to sort out sprues. They were all stuck in a box, but I took a bunch of folders and separated and labeled them all. Clipped a few that were just spare parts. What I really need to do is make a spreadsheet with everything, but that feels a lot like work. Project management is something I could use though.
Done with the paint, off the handles. Next step is rocks/tufts, decals, and flock. I’ll probably glue the stuff to the bases before I turn in for the night, let the glue dry over night, and do decals tomorrow. Probably after work.
Put some more layers down on the bike. Black and brown. Still slippy basecoats and a ways to go, but progress.
Finished basing/decals the bike/HIs. Still need to get work done on the last bike, but I wanted to make sure these guys were done for the comp. Will grab formal pics this afternoon. And probably some Q3 wrap up stuff. I want to break out the company as it stands for a few pics.
Keep at it my friend, your Marines are a wonderful sight to behold. I've been away too long and just getting my feet firm with my new position as well.
Cats are wonderful. Even when they are terrible and won't let up with the love and attention. My wife is jealous that when I get home and flop in my chair her favorite cat (which I chose ) comes into the room meowing for me and waits till i cross my legs before she hops up onto my lap and curls up for a nap and pets. Terrible creatures with no boundaries what-so-ever .
Not my favorite kit to build. Seemed to need more cleanup than a normal marine box, especially the backpack vents. Painted fairly easy. More edges than normal needed highlights, but they were blocky, even for marine standards, so that was sort of a wash. I’ll need to get 5 more for my company (more if I want to get my Deathwatch back on track) but these will do for now. Not expecting them to do well in the polls, as we’ve all seen a LOT of my ultras over the years, and these are just banged out to my table-top standard. But they are done and out of the pile of shame, ready to enforce the Emperor’s will on an uncaring universe.
The bike is also up on the YTD shelf, and the sarge got a few more coats this morning. Due to the lighting in my workroom the YTD shot I grabbed was way dark and shadowed. I really need to take a pic in daylight.
And move some spooks to the handles to start up tomorrow.
Le Chat Noir is getting more bold and comfortable. She’s even wandering around during daylight hours, but still very timid. My goal is to get a pic of her in my light box. It’s a dream, but I’m not holding my breath. When she gets a little less skittish, there is a chance I can catch a pic of her in a battle report.
Almost to the weekend, hold fast my brothers!
Edit: This also pushes me over my paint 20 marines for the battle company. Next stop is the stretch goal of getting my primaris up to a demi company.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Only 2-3 more basecoats for the sarge, then a bit of cleanup. Moved the spooks up for paint.
Had to tweak the brightness, but here is where we stand for the 3rd quarter progress. Solid volume, good variety. Pretty happy overall.
Now my goal was to get 20 guys done for the company. Past that. Stretch goal was for a full demi-company. Doing good there. Would need half the troops (check) half the assault (check, more so when I finish that last bike) Half the heavy support (5 done, need 5-6 more) and part of the command assets to lead them (check) So in the remaining 3 months of the year I either need to paint the other 5 hellblasters, or 2/3 of the other assorted squads. Worst case I just paint plasma in December’s open round.
I’ve mostly built out what I have for my primaris. Putting the apothecary together ate an intercessor body, so I’ve got 4 left. I’ve also got a spare phobos guy kicking around. To fill out the company I need:
5 heavy intercessors
16 basic intercessors
3-4 Fast attack.
1 heavy support
Now with 3 man squads I think I’ll just handwave the last guys, so the assault/support sections are 2x5 basics, 3x3 specialist squads each. Although if I end up with spare bodies, I might make an 11th man for the basics (well, turn them into a 5 and 6 man squad). Just to keep things nice and round. Alternatively, if I get a 5 man squad to round out the FA, that would put them at a 21/19 split. Not really fussing over this.
Overall I’m doing pretty good for my yearly goals. Games are going to be tight, might miss that one. And I need to get more bits done, and do the terrain thing.
Used my voucher from subscribing to W+ to order a pair of carnafexes from GW. Yes, I was suckered into a large purchase buy a coupon. But I think they are a direct only item, and never seem to be on sale with a discount on Amazon, so why not? They, a box of Zoenthropes, and another box of Hormagaunts round out my original nid plan. I know I want to build one as Old One Eye, and the other is going to be magnetized. Might just do full mag on both. We’ll see when they show up. Their rules might be “meh” but I’ve loved them from the original lead scremer-killer, so they need to join the swarm. Hopefully the next codex will be kind to them.
Debating buying/building a magnetic box sotrage system for the bigs. While I’m a big fan of KR, soft foam and lots of spikes does not seem like a good mix. Anyone know if the 9L very useful box is deep enough for winged Flyrants or Trygons? Looking at the stats online I’m guessing “no”. Big bugs might still end up being hand packed if they ever need to go anywhere.
Vejut wrote: Some nice progress Nevelon, and always fun to see somebody get close to reaching a fully built out project.
Well, almost done with getting all the parts. At the rate I paint, it will probably be 2 years until it’s finished. I had a bit of a head start on the demi-co. I think my 2022 goal will renew the “paint 20” for the company, and 2023 should be “finish it”. While getting the ~50 guys left done in a year would be doable, it would take pretty much my full output, and I’d probably burn out.
Edit:
Some progress. Getting washes down on the bike. Spooks plugging along. I think next step is the turquoise. Or is it the drybrush first? One problem with waiting a year between projects. I should go back and check from last year.
Edit:
Should just be black the rims and other base stuff. Next 5 ready to start.
youwashock wrote: Those Banshees definitely showed up to the wrong party.
Awesome progress and a great picture. Big bugs rule.
There were some years where the Eldar had enough representation to make a fight out of it (2018/19). This is not going to be one of those years. Now, it would not take a huge amount to make it happen. I’ve got about 500 points of elves primed (5xDA, jetseer, 2xWW, WS) and a foot farseer and old school bike still on sprue. If I shifted gears and prioritized that, it would probably eat a solid 2-3 months of time at the bench, but be doable. But if a quarter of the year is elves, and I paint more random things then Ultras, they might take the upper hand.
Although thinking of it like that, I need to be sure to grab a box of intercessors at some point early next year. Right now I’ve got a lot of the “fun” units to paint for the demi-co. 27 marines primed and ready. I could do those all next year, or most of them. (Which would be a balanced enough force to stuff my Eldar, even if I painted them all) But after that? 2023 would be a snooze fest of filling out the back of squads, with one FA pick to spice things up. Granted, I think the 500 points of Eldar would be able to take the 3x basic, 1x heavy intercessor squad, 1 FA squad Ultra force. Which would actually probably be close to them in points.
Of course, the future depends a lot on codex drops. And bundle deals. But this is just the Q3 review, not the “Look Ahead” New Year post. Still a lot of paint to splash around before we call a wrap on 2021!
So done with the second blue on the bike. Ink next. And at some point I need to do his eyes. plus cleanup, decals blah blah blah. Moving along.
Black and ice-blue/white done on the spooks. Next step is to pick out the wooden haflts, metal chains/shackles/weapons. Plus all the random stuff like gravestones. These guys paint fast. If I get off my rear I could potentially sweep the bench this weekend. Not holding my breath, but it’s a goal.
Glazes/washes down this morning. Blue on the bike, black on the spooks.
Spooks are interesting as they get both a wash and a glaze. Those are terms that are frequently used interchangeably, but are not. I glaze my Ultras. The goal is not to add depth/shading, but to change the tint. Which might be a filter? That’s a term I’ve seen tossed about, but without details. I’ve always called it glazing. Or washing when I knew less. The spooks just got their black wash, on the stones and metals. Goal there is not to change the hue/saturation of the color, but to do a quick and dirty shadow/highlight. Later they will get a black ink, glazing the robes to give them a richer black, and subdue the drybrush highlights they get first. They also get the turquoise glaze, which I slap on thick enough to work as both a shade/glaze. If I was starting over, I’d have used a contrast paint here, as they give the exact effect I want.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Bike should be done with paint. I’ll give him a final once over for obvious slop, then decal and base him. Glad to be done with bikes. Once again, no idea how ravenwing/white scars players do it. Must be mad.
Spooks just need their black ink I think. And baseing. Few spots need a little touch up with the turquoise. Almost done with them.
Rocks and tufts down. Next step is flock. And decals for the sarge. After that it’s pick the best of 5 of the spooks for the comp.
Happy Thanksgiving to those of you in the great white north.
Automatically Appended Next Post: And done. That was an ordeal. Almost makes me not want to grab the bike chaplain. Almost. He’s still awesome. Some day...
Undead deathmatch time! Only 5 can enter the monthly comp. Who will it be?
And while I’m dithering, what’s next on the paintbench? Still 2/3rds of the month left, so plenty of time for a real project. I should probably do one of the 3 man HS picks for the company. Suppressors, Eradicators, or Aggressors. Anyone want to toss a vote on that as well? I can use the two free handles to push some nids across the bench.
Which leaves:
5x more assault intercessors
3x Eradicators
3x Bladeguard Vets
1x Bladeguard ancient
1x Captain
1x Judicar
So 10/24 minis. So about 2/5ths of the way. (And we’re not counting the necrons, who slumber) Getting the bikes done is a major step, but the BGVs and all the characters left will also chew up some time on the paintbench. Amusingly, the 5 Assault intercessors from the box were not the 5 Assault intercessors sitting on the YTD shelf. Those were from the full kit I picked up. The Indominus ones got autobolt rifles and were painted as normal intercessors. Doesn’t change the math. Although if I had been more selective when picking which half of the assault intercessor squad to paint, I could have been 5 up on the box.
Nice job on the bikes, they are awesome on the tabletop. I like them for grabbing objectives and putting pressure on my opponent.
My vote for the next project is the suppressors.
We’ll see how soon I can get them to the table. Not holding my breath, but they can join the company.
So started the suppressors. Had to re-glue one guy’s foot on the support, as he was a little wobbly. Still better than flight stands. And 2 gaunts got their red this morning before work.
I should be able to get the marines done by the end of the month, and the gaunts as fast as I can churn them. I’m well ahead of my goals for the year, so no rush. Although in theory I’ve got some big bugs in the mail. No shipping notice from GW yet. Not in a hurry, but not a fan of things just pending out there.
Looks like Nids are getting some love in the next campaign book. Which is good, but a sign that the codex is not going to be anytime soon. Oh well.
There are always projects. Which is a good thing, as I generally enjoy the hobby. There are some things that just slog. Drop Pods being a classic example, but sometimes models I’m less then fond of, that take a lot of work. Like the bikes.
Actually looking forward to the suppressors, so they should go quick-ish.
The question of how much of the indominus box I have, paired with what I wanted to do next, made me think about what’s been sitting in the primed pile. I really need to do an inventory, and ideally a spreadsheet. What’s been there the longest? What is a remnant of a larger project? I think the suppressors are the final bit from the SC: Vanguard SM box I picked up I forget when. But there is still stuff from the DI box (hellblasters, gravis captain). I should probably add something to my yearly goals. “Paint the 3 oldest things from the primed pile” and do that every year. Just to keep stuff from lingering. That kind of bookkeeping is a lazy weekend thing though, if I ever get around to it.
The spreadsheet helps...as long as you can set yourself up to paint twice as many models as you purchase...otherwise there might be some despair. Been there and done that...
I have been picking around the hobby room a bit, myself. Some of that stuff...it's been around a while. Your dedication to organization is impressive.
I think a lot more about sorting and organizing then I actually do it. I’ve been described as “persnickety” so there might be some truth there.
Captain Brown wrote:The spreadsheet helps...as long as you can set yourself up to paint twice as many models as you purchase...otherwise there might be some despair. Been there and done that...
CB
I’ve actually been pretty good on the paint more then I buy goals. Not perfect, but the Pile of Shame is slowly shrinking. Of course, all it takes is a moment of weakness and a mega-box set and that goes out the window FAST.
I just primed my set of bikes, but haven't even started painting yet. It's reassuring to see yours done. There's a light at the end of the tunnel.
Nice work.
As for the ghosties, 3 for sure, and I also like the pose of 2.
They were not as bad as I made them out to be with my whining. Mostly my dissatisfaction with painting something not in parts, coupled with the large size to do.
Thanks for the input on the spooks. I should get the formal shots before I forget and run out of month. Halfway there.
Progress:
Few more layers on the suppressors, finished the first of 2 gaunts, moved 2 more down. Well, still need to base, but they can wait for the next lot to be done.
I second spook 3 for the comp and definitely spook 9. He looks like someone caught him doing something naughty And congrats on finishing the bikers. I still have the 3 on sprue (and sold off the other 3 I had, because I loathe getting them done ).
All set with the spooks for the month. Eventually I’ll build/paint up the next 10 of them for the full horde effect.
Automatically Appended Next Post: So the Primed pile, shame in 4 parts:
Ultras. 3rd co on the left. The HQs in the middle are either with them or optional (Not sure how I’m going to paint the captains’ trim). Guys on the right are 1st, 10th, or chapter level.
Non-primaris Ultras front left, a half dozen Deathwatch in the back, and Eldar.
Bugs.
Big stuff and bits. Some of the bits are parts for guys in other piles, or swap things, or just battlefield rubble/scatter stuff.
LoER I am not. Half finished terrain that I need to finish. And do more of.
I started a spreadsheet. Sooooo much data entry. Filtered the blog by my posts, and worked back adding dates when things were purchased/built/primed/painted. Got back about a year and change, as I wanted to cover all the nids at least. But still didn’t find all the info for everything in the primed pile.
And WIPs:
The gaunts got their purple after this pic.
Automatically Appended Next Post: So as a fun exercise this weekend, I made a spreadsheet and added dates of things from the primed pile. I didn’t add everything completed, as that seemed too much work, and kind of regret it now. Would have been nice to have a full dataset. I kept at it for a bit, but gave up once I got a few years back. What I did do was try to get the dates that everything in the primed pile ended up in there. I failed at that. I went back in my blog to the launch of 8th, and stopped. I can always go back more. The scouts made from the LSS extras and the LS typhoon pre-date that. There are a few other things that also date from 2017 (Jetseer, stormhawk, Destroyers, RTB01s). Oddly, everything primed in 2018 was finished. Not that much left form 2019 though. 2020 makes up the bulk of it.
In painting news, basecoats almost done on the suppressors. Nids plodding alongside them as well.
I think only a few hoses on their backs are left at the basecoat stage. Next up is the drybrushing/washes.
Nids are ready for their black shade on the reds. Then the eyes, teeth, and tongue.
One thing when putting dates on things, it was hard to track down the gaunts, as they were often background projects while I worked on other things and zipped along mostly silently.
Shipping note from GW, should be getting some big bugs dropping this Friday. Should be fun, looking forward to a new construction project that doesn’t feel like make work.
Nice progress! Did you modify the suppressor helmets? I feel like I remember them being more fallout-like, but I could be thinking of something else. GW naming conventions are beginning to spiral out of control somewhat.
brushcommando wrote: Nice progress! Did you modify the suppressor helmets? I feel like I remember them being more fallout-like, but I could be thinking of something else. GW naming conventions are beginning to spiral out of control somewhat.
I had to check vs. the GW webstore. Looks like I left the sarge alone, but swapped out the troopers with stock intercessor helms.
Should be at the second blue clean up phase. You can see all the slop. There is a reason I do a couple passes. And “Couldn’t you just be neater the first round” isn’t possable, so I do what I must.
4 little bugs on the basing station.
That’s enough that I might actually finish them off. Or they can wait for more. No rush, so we’ll see where the motivation is at.
Glaiceana wrote: Really nice work! Looking forward to more bugs especially!
You are in luck. Postman just dropped off a pair of carnefexes. Let’s see how quick I can get them built. Still some days to prime this year. And might try the garage this winter if I miss that window.
JoshInJapan wrote:I have never had the self-confidence to share photos of my sloppy WIP models. I admire your bravery in doing so.
Part of the reason I started this blog was to show what a normal guy could do. I’m just an average Joe. I put my paints on one layer at a time, just like the rest of you. I don’t use any fancy techniques, no special tools. It’s sloppy at parts. It needs clean up passes. But at the end of the day, I get a solid, table-top level mini. And with steady achievable progress, we can end up with a decent army-sized pile of minis at the end of the year. Part of that is showing the ugly middle steps, talking about mistakes. This isn’t a polished/edited painting tutorial where nothing goes wrong. I screw up, I fix it, we move on. Normal people stuff. I like to think the silent majority of people in the hobby are like me, and try to represent them. Too often all we see are new painters taking their first steps and asking for help, or Golden Deamon level guys.
brushcommando wrote:I'll second the idea that the bugs turned out very well. It will be cool to see those carnifexes eventually.
Started building the first one last night. Great kit, but an old one. Tons of options, and nice features like alignment pins for EZ-Build, that you can just snip off for full possibility. But a lot of mold slippage/cleanup, on chunky parts, which is hard going. Common in old kits, sadly. You can also tell by the part spacing that it’s old tech. Not as bad as some, but they could pack it a lot tighter these days.
I know I’m going magnets, but need to think about my primary build. Old One Eye and a Screamer-Killer are probably going to be it, but I should also get the parts done for a dakkafex, as that looks to be the best mechanical build.
So getting there. Messed up the alignment on the back vents a little. Will try to pay closer attention on the next one. Magnets sunk in torso for all the arms. Not sure how I feel about the head and back options. I prefer the clean look of the basic one, so might just glue that on. Mechanically, the spore clouds seem really nice. These guys are probably running across open ground, so a -1 to hit would help them get into contact alive. And I have no plans on picking up the other cloud nids, so the stacking issue is not relevant. Clipped the OOE head and the bio-plasma one. The heightened senses looks suitably alien, might use that one for the next one as well as some gun arms. As the heads are light and lot load bearing, I think just leaving the pegs on and using sticky tack should be fine, but magnetizing them would not be hard. Especially with the peg hole acting as a guide. Honestly just a little blob of tack would probably be all the back options would need to stay put.
I should put some paint down today, but need to hit the hardware store and do some homeowner stuff, and meet some friends for beer/octoberfest this afternoon. We’ll see if I can fit in a little time. Need to clear the decks before November starts.
Good start on the big bugs. I like all the new, giant, tyranid options (especially the big tunnelers) but I'm also sort of nostalgic for the days when my friend's carnifexes were the most terrifying things on the battlefield. I was kind of sad when they got relegated to light-tank status. Anyways, it's good to see some kicking around on the hobby desk.
brushcommando wrote: Good start on the big bugs. I like all the new, giant, tyranid options (especially the big tunnelers) but I'm also sort of nostalgic for the days when my friend's carnifexes were the most terrifying things on the battlefield. I was kind of sad when they got relegated to light-tank status. Anyways, it's good to see some kicking around on the hobby desk.
Memories of the classic Scramer-Killer were key to me starting a nid army, and demanded the inclusion of the new version. I’m not going to try to track down the old metals. They do better with rose-colored nostalgia then in reality.
‘Fexes have pretty crappy rules, but that can always change.
I also am not a huge fan of the scale creep in the game. While I prefer the days where a ‘fex, dreadnought and their ilk were the top of what you would commonly see, that ship has sailed. The newer, bigger bugs are fun, but the design space is getting a little cramped.
No pic for now, but plugging along. Cleaned up the heads and half the arms. Put the first layer on the gaunts, and one marine got his blue cleanup. They are going to be a blast to edge.
Looking good. How many more gaunts do you have to crank out before the unit is finished?
Also -- if that comment about about edge highlighting the primaris is the sarcasm I'm reading it as -- I feel your pain.
Those guys have so many edges and panels -- it's one of the reasons I've never made much headway on a primaris army.
If that wasn't sarcasm, then I salute your enthusiasm.
It was sarcasm. Sooo much sarcasm. I really dislike edgeing stuff, but it does help the models look a lot better, so I do it. Just a massive chore.
The plan right now is 30 termagaunts. 20 are fully done, 4 waiting for bases, 2 wips, and 4 waiting. At some point I might buy more, but that’s a fairly low priority.
Nice. Two thirds of the way there! I think you're going about it in a really smart way. Trying to paint 30 'gaunts en masse is a great recipe for burnout but 1-2 here and there in between other units slowly and steadily gets them all done while not destroying your motivation.
Having a fast moving side project helps a lot at times.
I can bang out a pair of gaunts in a workday over breaks if I really wanted to. Generally I go at a more sedate pace. Having something that shows progress helps when other things are dragging. They help keep me going to the bench, where I might otherwise just putter around avoiding it. Happened tonight. Was just going to sit and veg, decided to go and put a layer down. Didn’t actually get one on the gaunts (although they got the flesh wash this morning) but I did get the blue on a second suppressor. Chipping away. Cleaned a few mold lines. Have all the parts ready for OOE. Just need to magnetize the arms. And do the other parts for the S-K, and then start the second one.
But now for a drink and to watch some more Cowboy Bebop.
It’s National Black Cat day out there, go hug your local inkspot. Or else the darkness will devour us all. Or just demand pettings, but best not to take the chance.
Suppressors are ready for their ink. Few details still needs work (eyes on the sarge) and they are going to need a bit of cleanup. Also missed some wires on the backpacks. Gaunts got the cleanup pass with Grey Seer, need their last flesh wash, and teeth and tounge. Guns are blacked and drybrushed, need everything else done.
Fex is magnetized. Top plate is just resting, I might just glue the plain one on this guy, and put a spore on the next. Head is sticky tacked on.
It screams, it kills, modern take on the S-K ‘fex. 4 stabby bits and the plasma head.
He wants a cool eye-patch and a loyal crew to engage in a little piracy on the high seas, Old One Eye:
I might sink some magnets into the spare claws from the hausprex that I built. They are much more crushy.
Next one is going to be built more shooty. The Venom Cannon for the Flyrant fits on the body, so all the parts should be cross compatible.
Nothing from the warhammer day reveals really floats my boat. Some nice stuff, but nothing I need. Although the allure of getting some GSC is starting to grow. Saboteur is pretty sweet looking. I keep thinking about grabbing their SC box for the riderunner to make a counts-as ATV instead of the mario cart of an actual model. And painting the rest as a fun project/KT. Still pretty torqued at GW for how they are doing the rules for the new KT. Oh well, nothing for that.
Enjoy your weekends all, and Happy Halloween if I don’t post tomorrow.
Fexes are looking pretty cool. I do like your take on the screamer-killer. Very stabby/slashy/bitey. Old one eye also looks very legit. Can't wait to see them with some paint. Hopefully you get a spurt of priming weather soon...
Screamie looks fantastic. Nice aggressive pose. Brings back memories of the story where Ragnar kills one by feeding it a krak grenade after it runs through some of his pals.
Hopefully with a garage I will not be restricted by the weather. Right now the one ‘fex is the only thing in the prime pile. I should build the other and some ‘stealers and break out the rattle can.
I wonder what percentage of carnafexes were killed by something being fed to them? Either krack grenades or plasma pistols. Guys need to watch their diet.
So a little progress. Got a lot of layers down on the guns, should just be the cleanup blue pass and they will be at the same ink stage as the bodies. Not a huge rush as “Catch me if you can” won the poll for next month, and I’m going to try to do both the war walkers. And they use the large handle. When I finish the marines I should probably start another HS pick. Or just leave that for December’s open round and paint something random. Well ahead of the game for most of my goals, so lots of options.
Cleaned up the bases and glued down rocks/tufts for the gribbles. Will flock them when I have a moment.
Nice and steady progress on all fronts, really excited to see color on the big bug! And love seeing the gaunts, your color scheme is just perfect for those creepy crawlers.
I just gotta paint my poster boys. Ultras, Leviathan, even Saim-Hann gets a lot of time in the sun. Although I’d not call them the flagship of the Eldar range, they are the box art guys. All of this, I assure you, is completely not intentional.
Put the flock down on the 6 little buggers, and clipped the other ‘fex. I figure I’ll start with a dakkafex, with all the guns. I should clip another pair of talons, so I could run one as OOE and the other as a SK if I just wanted to battering ram up the middle of the table.
Put the first red down on a walker. Did the eyes on the sarge. Blue ink next for them.
Cool to see the war walkers hitting the painting bench. And nothing wrong with preferring the poster-boy armies. They're chosen for their visual appeal after all.
In my defense, I don’t think they were the poster boys when I started. Crimson Fists were the OG poster boys, and I want to say Beil-Tan were the first guys on the Eldar boxes, but am a lot less sure about that. Nids are on me though. I started them after the boxes were all leviathan, even if they were something back in time. I blame the Deathwatch computer game. And the fact that it is a striking, alien, easy to do scheme.
So some paint.
Got the ink on one, arms as well. Need to crank out the other 2 and edge them. Lots of tidy-up work on these guys as well
Another year older, don’t feel much wiser. Just more achy and broken. On the plus side, a new batch of Amazon gift cards to dump into the hobby.
brushcommando wrote: Happy Birthday! Got any particular hobby plans in mind for that sweet, sweet gift card haul?
Part of me want to wait and see what the Christmas season brings at the end of the month/early December. Although the availability of some box deals on Amazon retailers is often sketchy. I generally also try to spend birthday money ASAP, as IMHO people should not buy gifts for themselves before the holidays. Gives me a narrow window. But especially if things I am looking for are in box sets, sometimes it can be worth the wait. If I need to use real money to get them from my FLGS I can use the gift cards to get things like bulk cat food online, or other necessity items to balance out the guilt-free
With the Carnafexes purchased, the next things on my ‘nid list are another box of hormagaunts and a box of Zoenthropes. Actually 2 boxes of Zoe’s is on my to-get list, so I can build the HQ version and have a squad of 4-5.
I’ve got more than enough marines on deck. Not that have ever stopped me (and anyone in the hobby) from getting more. I need a few more boxes of troops for the company, and some impulsors. Which would be purchased as gladiators and magentized. I could also pick up more of the overpriced HQs, as I feel less bad buying them with giftcards.
Part of my wants to get the GSC start collecting box and convert the ridgerunner into a Invader ATV counts-as. The rest of the box can be a painting project/kill team/side thing.
Nothing right now on the Eldar front. Painting the WWs is reminding me how I’m not a huge fan of my reds.
A lot of fun looking soulblight stuff came out this year. If I’m just going for random painting projects adding to armys that are unlikely to see the table, there are worse things to pick up.
Speaking of getting stuff to the table, getting boxes/magnets/supplies to get a transport system for my nids is also a possibility.
As are some acrylic risers to help display minis on the shelves.
Lot of options, not a lot of decisions.
Also, not to totally meta-game myself, these count as gifts, so not against my “paint more than I buy” goal. So I’m more likely to get a box of gaunts then a singel tank, just for the silly math. Not that I need a lot of help with that goal this year.
On the paint front, all the blue ink down. Edges and cleanup next.
This might not be the longest running, or most prolific, or even a decent quality blog. But I do keep at it. Wonder how many of those 4,000 posts are mine? Probably not as many as I’m guessing.
Some progress:
One suppressor basically done. Need to give him a few more checks, but he should be ready for decals and baseing. Not sure if I want to dirty up the eldar bits or just leave them.
Not enjoying the walker. Should have left him in parts, getting a brush to places is less than fun in multiple spots. Still, progress.
Lovely weather yesterday, so primed the ‘fex. Still cleaning up the next one. Old kit, bad mold lines, hard going.
Finished suppressor looks good. Edge-highlighting may be tedious as all-get-out but it really does improve the look of the model when it's finished. And I hear you about those old kits. Sometimes I wish GW would re-do some of them, but then I realize they would cost twice as much and only come in one pose, so I guess it's a "be careful what you wish for" scenario...
As for old kits; GW could put a little effort into revitalizing old stuff. We don’t need new shiny things. A lot of us would buy old units given a new life. Or they are just iconic parts of the range. Things like the rhinos, wave serpents and box dread could use a re-cut. And with today’s technology, they could merge a lot of the varients into a single kit. Price might go up a bit, but more options and cleaner details.
And done. Not bad models. Modded them a little. New helms for the troopers, moved the smoke to the sarge’s backpack. Ditched the flight stems for Eldar wreckage. I like how it worked out for the troops. They have hooked their footplates onto the stuff to help hold steady with the recoil. The sarge is in a ready scanning pose, not braced for fire. They are a bit of a glass hammer for their points, costing the same as a 5 man intercessor squad and getting 3 marines with the same armor/stats (plus smoke I guess). But those autocannons should put down the fire. And they are pretty zippy.
Despite being FA on the FOC, they are HS per company doctrine, so get dev markings and fill that role for my demi-co goal. Just one more HS pick and I've reached that one for the year.
Slow progress on the walker. Just not feeling it. Odds of getting both done are low, but I’ll see what I can do. Moved some gaunts down to fill space. I should get chipping away at them.
Congrats on finishing the surpressors and for making the wise move to not put them on the flightstands. Seraphim are fine on them, but the big boys don't like them at all. I went mad trying to get them to stay on.
Hope you can push through with the walker. If a mini brings no real joy to paint it can get frustrating. So getting some Gaunts in the mix for a bit of change should help.
After putting together my Inceptors, I was not a big fan of marines on those stands. The sisters being lither had less issues, but were still not great.
Basecoated the gaunts last night, will start with the purple this morning. Get them moving. Also put a few more details on the walker.
Spent some birthday cash. Some more green tufts (which I was low on), a box of regular intercessors, and a gladiator should be here Thursday. I think the primary build on the tank is actually going to be a closed body Impulsor. Not a fan of the open pick up truck look on the stock one, but I feel that marines should have transports. Even if the rules are generally not worth it.
I like the finished suppressors. And I'm excited to see some impulsors/gladiators join the force. I like the look of them a lot aesthetically (aside from what you mentioned about the pickup truck bed) but I was baffled by the choice to make their transport capacity so low they can't carry a full squad.
Suppressors look cool! So cool, in fact, that I am making a mental note to get some at some point and see if I can get them out of those moon-shoes and standing on the ground. Bummer about the Walker. Hopefully you can get it done.
brushcommando wrote:I like the finished suppressors. And I'm excited to see some impulsors/gladiators join the force. I like the look of them a lot aesthetically (aside from what you mentioned about the pickup truck bed) but I was baffled by the choice to make their transport capacity so low they can't carry a full squad.
I was a little miffed at that myself. I love grav armor. Whole reason for my Eldar army. So while a lot of the primaris fluff I’m not big on, I was on board with the repulsor. Would have preferred it with less random guns glued on, but it is what it is. I suspect it was designed when firing arcs were a thing. Makes a lot more sense in that light. Except the stubber, which can go back to the guard. But it’s a LR equivalent. MBT that has a solid transport capacity. Which makes sense for marines, but hard to work in a game where you pay for capacity and don’t use half of it.
With the Impulsor I was hoping for a rhino, and we got a razorback. You can disembark after moving, which is great, but not assault, which sucks. How many units do we have that want to do that? Not gravis, as they can’t fit. Hellblasters? Especially as an Ultramarine, where on turns 2/3 I can move and fire like I’m standing still. At least it has a spare seat so a HQ can be dropped mid-field. Price is a little higher than I’d like. Unfortunately, the armored spearhead is a classic list I love to play. Tanks, mechanized infantry, and some FA units to act as mobile screens and skirmishers. So more SM tanks will be needed.
youwashock wrote:Suppressors look cool! So cool, in fact, that I am making a mental note to get some at some point and see if I can get them out of those moon-shoes and standing on the ground. Bummer about the Walker. Hopefully you can get it done.
When I first saw the supressors, I thought about ways to kit-bash them myself. Not a big fan of the feet, and the flight stands suck. My original though was to take basic intercessor bodies, spare jump packs, and barrel extensions for heavy bolters. Maybe grav vanes from the reiver kit to spice up the JPs. It’s been so long since I built them I forget how hard it would be to do leg swaps. Worst case you could just hacksaw at the belt and swap that way.
So they said that the seasonal boxes are going to announced Thursday. <sigh> Nice timing on my part. Oh well. It’s not like I’d turn away from a box containing more of what I just ordered. I’m going to need more intercessors for the compnay, and another tank (either to field as an impulsor, or actually a tank). Don’t think there is much I’d shy away from another box’s worth on the Nid side either. Although the genestealer situation is getting comical. And termagaunts and more ‘fexes are very low on my to-get list. 30 and two is not bad for a collection my size.
More details, most of the second cleanup red on the walker. It covers for crap, so will probably need another one or two. I guess it doesn’t bother me so much on the normal vehicles, as they are mostly clean lines and flat panels. This guy is all nooks and places it’s imposable to get a brush on. The walkers were basically the free part of the SC boxes. I bought them for the wraiths (and one of the seers). These guys were pretty good on paper mechanically, even though I’d prefer to use vypers for the job thematically. Probably past the half way point. Started the guns, need to start the windshield.
Gaunts just got their flesh wash. Pot is running low. Maybe this weekend I’ll hit the FLGS and grab another. My nids drink that stuff like it was hot from the reclamation pool, and I also use it on my other armies.
These are being counted as gifts, so exempt for the paint more than I buy tally.
Painting progress was a few more layers down on the starcannons. Just the gloss blue left. Cleaned up the torso parts for the fex. Next stop is to sink magnets in.
Plugging away to the weekend.
Edit: Finished the star cannons, did a touchup pass on the walker. Getting there.
Battle forces announced today, looks like I’m clean. No nids, no eldar. Vampire one is full of models I don’t want (big centerpiece, zombies). Marines I had to think. I could use the heavy intercessors, and despite just getting a box, could use another basic one. But past that, not a lot of interest. Sure, the assaults or the speeder could fill the last FA slot in the company, but not something I want. While I don’t have a primaris speeder in the collection they strike me as way overgunned and expensive for their points. I’d rather pay a little more and get more gladiators. Which I like the look of better, and are T8. So when I only want 2 units, and could find a use for a third out of the 6 in the box, that’s a pass.
Progress is looking good. Have you though of a "reward" model you want to paint after cranking out the walker? Also I was curious about some of the comments you made about the battleforce. My brother and I still play 8th ed, so I don't have the new dex. Are assault intercessors considered troops or FA in the actual order of a battle company? I sort of assumed they still made up one of the six "tactical squad" slots, but noticed the FA symbols on the shoulder pads and wondered...
brushcommando wrote: Progress is looking good. Have you though of a "reward" model you want to paint after cranking out the walker? Also I was curious about some of the comments you made about the battleforce. My brother and I still play 8th ed, so I don't have the new dex. Are assault intercessors considered troops or FA in the actual order of a battle company? I sort of assumed they still made up one of the six "tactical squad" slots, but noticed the FA symbols on the shoulder pads and wondered...
For game mechanics, they are a troop pick.
From a fluff/lore/chapter organization POV, they are a “close support” unit. The same as assault marines.
Similarly, the supressors I just finished have the chevron of heavy support, but are a fast attack pick.
Most units in the marine codex have the same battlefield role as place in the chapter organization, but not all of them do.
As for what’s next after the walker I’m not sure. I need to check on my year goals and see what I need to focus on. We are almost out of time. But some of the marine HQs would be nice to do. The judicar or techmarine being high on the list.
For game mechanics, they are a troop pick.
From a fluff/lore/chapter organization POV, they are a “close support” unit. The same as assault marines.
Similarly, the supressors I just finished have the chevron of heavy support, but are a fast attack pick.
Most units in the marine codex have the same battlefield role as place in the chapter organization, but not all of them do.
Ah. Thanks for the clarification. The purist (read: historical player) in me is maddened by these sort of discrepancies. And the units based around multiples of three...
For game mechanics, they are a troop pick.
From a fluff/lore/chapter organization POV, they are a “close support” unit. The same as assault marines.
Similarly, the supressors I just finished have the chevron of heavy support, but are a fast attack pick.
Most units in the marine codex have the same battlefield role as place in the chapter organization, but not all of them do.
Ah. Thanks for the clarification. The purist (read: historical player) in me is maddened by these sort of discrepancies. And the units based around multiples of three...
Don’t get me started on the 3 man unit. Those need to go die in a fire. Full. Ten. Man. Squads. This is what the Codex dictates, this is what needs to be fielded. GW brought back Guiliman just so he could amend the Codex so they could sell less minis per box. The ones that are hard locked into 3 man squads bug me the most. I could at least flesh my bladeguard vets out to a full 5 men. I need to get paint on them.
I think for units like suppressors it was a coin toss to where they landed, and the fluff guys and mechanics guys were flipping different coins. The assault intercessors are probably a bone being tossed to wrapping SW/BA back into the main book. I know BA could take assault marines as troops, and pretty sure Wolves could take blood claws, but am less sure on that. Honestly, they should just be a line on the datasheet “Intercessors may swap their bolt rifle and bolt pistol for a heavy bolt pistol and an astartes chainsword” Codex/datasheet bloat is getting crazy.
Looking at my goals not a lot of last second push needed this year. Games played is probably going to be a fail. The Boy’s interest in the game side is not the strongest, and he’s got a lot of other things he enjoys doing more than painting. And I’m not up for hitting the FLGS for pick up games with strangers. I do need to paint more spare parts and finish work on some terrain. Right now I’m thinking of doing the eradicators for the open challenge, which should finish off the demi-co. I’ll probably grab a brush and get to work after a little more coffee.
Little biters needs eyes, teeth and cleanup. Walker is getting there. Needs another layer of red in spots, edges, black lines, and the base. Guns are done. Windshield probably needs another coat.
Sunk the magnets into the carnefex’s torso. Once the glue dries I can put it together and keep working on him. Mold lines are so bad it active makes my hands ache to clean them. Not fun. But I need him off the deck so I can work on other projects.
Slow going. Not a lot done this weekend so far. Maybe more tomorrow.
JoshInJapan wrote: The warwalker is coming along nicely. The lighting effects on the guns are particularly effective.
Some of that is using actual metallics and real light.
Basecoat leadbealcher
Polished blue (old metallic blue) on the plasma bits
Nuln oil over the whole thing
Edges (including on the blue), raised bumps in runefang steel
Soulstone blue as a gloss tint over the plasma bits.
Walker needs some red highlights on edges and bumps, some work on the base. But almost there.
Bugs needs tounges glossed and the final touch up contrast coat. Also almost done.
Edit: Everyone is off the handles and ready for basing. Moved 4 genestealers and the judicar down. I figure the stealers should just zip across the bench; I need 3 spots free for next month. Mr. Sword can take his time. First grey seer down on the stealers and base coats on the bare heads.
Edit2: Rocks and tufts down. That’s the last step for the walker. Gaunts need flock. Started getting basecoats on the Judicar.
Edit3: Everyone done, onto the Judicar and the Stealers. Probably do the photos this afternoon.
Walker done. Turned out OK. Could have been cleaner, but i skipped putting the extra coats for a real smooth coverage in the irritating to get too spots. Hard to tell at the table-top distances.
And some finished gaunts. The last box of 12. One fleshborer, 11 devourers.
Which brings us up to 30 total, split 15/15 between them. A few hormaguant bodies splashed in for variety, and a half dozen old metals. 2 views, ranked and swarming:
Used some cheep white poker chips as risers in the back. Think it gives a good view of the overall mass of bodies. Little focus problem, should have shot farther back so the F-Stop defaulted to a bit deeper. Oh well. Good enough for the gribbles.
Congrats on powering through the walker! The end result looks pretty good. Also the 'gaunts look pretty impressive all massed up. Excited to see the judiciar and the stealers hit the painting bench.
Blocking in colors. Need to decide how I want to do the jacket lining/cuffs. Planning on trying to weather/distress the outside a little. Stealers need the wash, just being lazy.
This is like 3 thin layers of Darkoath Flesh over the old Snakebite Leather. I would like it to be a little more of a richer, deeper brown, but might just paint the details and leave it like this. Or mix a little bit of the mournfang brown into the darkoath and see how that goes. Thoughts?
I think it looks pretty good as is. From my experience mixing in mournfang can lead to a red/orange tone that is a bit too bright for a lot of purposes. I'm not sure about the darkoath flesh color you'd be working it into though, so your mileage may vary.
I think at this point I’ll wait for the rest of the model to be done, and see how the head looks as part of the whole.
So painting the walker made me think about the Eldar I’ve done for the comp. I’ve literally played a marine list using just what I’ve painted (with models still left out). Could I do it with the pointy ears?
Yes. It might even be functional. Just a few points shy of 1,500 with no real upgrades, could hit that easy (there is a little cheating, as some of the squads were a little light, but only a guy or two)
Farseer on foot
Autarch on bike
Bonesinger
5x Banshees
5x Wraithblades
5x Rangers
5x Swooping Hawks
3x Windriders
3x Windriders
Fire Prism
War Walkers
Eldar Dreadnought (Or Wraithlord, as the plastic ones are called these days)
Wraithlord
Wraithlord
I’ve written more dysfunctional lists. Rangers camp a backfield objective with the prism. Walker/bikes/hawks skirt around doing secondaries and picking off loose objectives, and a huge block of wraithbone moves to hold the center with psychic support.
I should make a point to paint the DAs and the WS for the comp at some point. Could use the transport and more troops.
On the painting side, put the gold on the judicar and washed 2 of the stealers.
The warwalker looks pretty good to me. Kudos for painting the canopy-- I always painted over the clear plastic on mine because I couldn't seem to paint in the lines of the frame.
JoshInJapan wrote: The warwalker looks pretty good to me. Kudos for painting the canopy-- I always painted over the clear plastic on mine because I couldn't seem to paint in the lines of the frame.
I admit, it was less then fun. Especially as the red needs multiple coats. The targeting rune was fun. As it’s engraved/recessed into the plastic I used a wash and a good brush to just fill it in and push the wash into the corners. I think in the past I tried to use paint, but didn’t thin it enough so it looked bad. Or just ignored it. I’d have to check the shelf.
Part of me wants to soldier on and do the second one, but the other part wants to move on, and maybe move the hive guard across the monster handle. I’ve been playing fast and loose with the nids and my pledge to keep them pile of shame neutral. Depending on how I count it I’m kinda sorta OKish, but i’ve got a glut of genestealers on sprue that really make a mockery of my goals here. Nothing says shame like models still on sprue. Once I finish the ‘Fex I should probably build at least a couple frames of them. And finish painting the ones on deck.
Which I am making progress on.
Next stop for them is the red on the claws. Judicar is plugging along. I think I might just do the cuffs in the same color as the coat. One thing I liked looking at the official pic on GW’s site is the red lining. I might go over the interior bits bit my BA Red contrast and tint mine.
Extra long weekend here with no plans, so hopefully I can get some progress in. Although I’ve got a lot of kitchen stuff to do today. Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Americans (and Canadians; I celebrate yours, so turnabout is fair play) and happy Evacuation Day to the New Yorkers and you imperialists across the pond.
Stealers are done and off to be based. Brought the last 2 built ones down, and also one of the hive guard for the big handle. Running low on primed nids, but that’s a good thing. I’m not supposed to have a lot of them hanging out in the Pile of Shame.
Put the first Grey Seer down on the other nids. The hunched over posture of the hive guard is not fun to paint. Good thing I’m just slopping contrast paints around. If I actually had to detail him, I’d have to pop him off the base or paint him in parts. But as I’m not, going to be just fine getting him to the same level as the rest of the swarm.
Little more clean up as well, paint on the Judicar, mold lines on the fex. Could have been a more productive weekend, but I fired up Civ 6, and that pretty much killed that. Plus vegging on TV.
The only hard part was the mold lines. Although the devourers made it hard to get a brush to spots. Mostly they just breezed across the workbench in small batches. That said, if I were a serious nid player, having to do another 30-60 of them might drive me mad.
Morning progress. Black wash down on the stealers. Next up is details and finish the tentacles. Running critically low on the flesh wash, need to hit the shop this weekend.
brushcommando wrote: Crab Claws are looking good. It will be cool to see that carnifex come together.
I’m painting these as part of my spare parts program. Full fex is going to be at some later date. Although in unrelated fex news, I finished cleaning the parts for the second one this morning. Magnets and final assembly up next for him, and off to the to-prime pile.
Thanks. Got s few cleanup passes on him, still need to do the washes, but getting there. Stealers are waiting for flock, have been rocked/tufted.
So a few years ago I did an advent calendar of some of my favorite things from my collection. It’s been 3 years, so I went back over them and chose a few high points across the things I’d been painting. I probably should have put more thought into the order of things, (which I did before) but this was a last minute kinda thing
December 1st
Spoiler:
I like a number of things about this guy. The big one is how the kitbashed ML arm came out. It’s really easy to have things look like random bits jumbled together, but I think I avoided that. most of my models are in deep snow, but he is in a more windswept area. Looks good. In general I like the bright spots of color on the dark black/steel base that is Deathwatch.
This month is going to be the eradicators to finish up my demi-co. And probably other stuff. We’ll see what I have time for.
Edit: Just flocked the stealers. All done with them
Started putting washes on the Judicar and more work on the heads. Also got the base blue down on one of the eradicators.
Day 2:
Spoiler:
I don’t do a whole lot of converting work. Some of it is cutting my teeth on metal (not literally) where it was much harder (literally). I’ve got a few failed projects, mangled beyond salvage. The wraithlord is an amazing kit, despite its age. Tons of possibility and options, but not running. So this one got some knee surgery. Not unhappy with how that came out. Could have been braver with the arms. The idea was for her to be pointing the cannon at her target, shooting while she charged. Sword trailing behind, ready to snap around. I got the reverse grip done, but probably should have adjusted the shoulder/elbows a bit.
I’ve always loved wraithlords. Great models, great lore. Often crap rules, but that’s life. I’ve got 3 and would not mind more. Just fun kits to build. Refreshing to see the grey edges/highlights I spent the time on working on this one. It’s a step I hate, but it is worth it.
This guy was my 3rd? chapter champion. When they broke up squads in 8th they also restricted his gear down. There used to be no reason to take the knife, now at least he gets a free stab with it. He was an interesting build. Took some work to get the torso halves lined up. He was also I think the first to use a 3D printed part (his champion shoulder pad). It took a LOT of cleanup work, and is still not perfect. Filament printers might not be the best for this scale work. Or I just need to learn more. From a paint POV, I really like how he turned out. He didn’t do horribly in the poll (for me), but wasn’t making any major waves.
Automatically Appended Next Post: And some new paint going down. Done with the first blues, and the carapace on the guard. Also doing a spare farseer helm for my bits goal.
Edit: And becasue it might be missed in the page rollover, still looking for thoughts on the Judicair.
Judicar is basically done. You might recall that I was on the fence about his head:
Not glued on yet, so the angles can be tweaked to try to get the mood from the orginal pics (which I think captured the nature of the faces well)
I'm a little torn on the judiciar heads. On the one hand, I think the skin tone and especially the eyes came out really good on the left hand model. On the other hand, I also really like the scar and blind eye on the right-hand model (who also happens to serve as a living object lesson on why helmets are issued in the first place ). I'm probably leaning in favor of scarface if only for the reason that his dour scowl oozes chaplain character, while the other guy looks a bit more generic space marine.
Edit: I'd be interested to see the left hand model with the head's gaze shifted to straight forward and a bit down, to see if that gives him more of an "I'm coming for you" attitude.
One reason I included the test head pic was for that angle. Left has that focused determination with the head down and forward, and scar has a little tilt that says “who’s next?”
This is a little better to convey what I’m going for:
Torn on the heads, as well. The scarred one just has that cool detail and character, but the skintone on the other is so rich and the shadows are killer. Tough to say but the darker skintone might be my favorite.
OK, glued on baldy. Next squad of intercessors might get scars as a sarge. Unless I build more HQs (which could happen) Rocks and tufts also down, so just needs flock.
Few more layers on the eradicators, plugging along there.
Day 4:
Spoiler:
This sarge was just an arm and head swap on a monopose DV sarge. But it completely changed him. It was a little challenging to find a fist that fit. While a lot of old arms can work, some feel a little stubby, fists especially. Scale creep has always been a thing, but primaris turn that up to 11. Once I found one (from the Mk. IV BaC sprues) the next issue was getting the pose right. His helmet on his belt blocked a lot of potential angles. I like the final feel of the model, and think I did a solid job on the paint. And stat wise, it’s crazy not to hand out CC toys to sarges these days. It used to be a waste of points to invest in a fist for a guy who might get a couple of swings with it. This guy? He gets 4 swings on the first round of combat. That’s Phoenix Lord/Hive Tyrant level of attacks. He definitely punches above his weight class.
Probably swing by the GW store today for a paint run. Running low on some basics. Have a great weekend all.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Done. I’ll get his lightbox pics later.
Finished building the dakkafex, and went back and magnetized the heads on the other one.
Also did up a pair of scything talons for him. Seems wrong not to have any stabby bits on a ‘fex. Off to the to-prime pile, which was empty.
WIP:
Move the old one eye head down to paint. It’s a little cheating to do swap bits before the main model, but it gets them out of the pile, so that counts.
This is not an uprising. Honest. So the first Sat of the month the local GW hands out free minis while supplies last. They claimed “genestealers” on the web, which I could obviously use more of. The 14 of them in the to-build pile get lonely. But in fact, I got a cultist. With a webber. He’s going to be lonely for a while. It won’t be too bad. Right now he’s got the fex to keep him company in the to-prime pile, and he can hang out with the nids once he gets hit with the rattle can. Although that’s getting a little thin these days.
Which brings up the question: What’s in store for the bugs? Or next year in general?
The carnefexes were the last of the big bugs on the scope. There are a handful of medium bigs on the to get list. A box or two of zoenthropes, same with warriors. Maybe some raveners. Little bugs is another box of hormagaunts, as I just don’t see a dozen of them living long enough to do anything constuctive. So about 2 dozen or so total until the swam is “complete”. After that there is a good chance I’ll consider branching out to the cult. My big issue with them is that they seem to require a zillion character packs, which are priced outrageously. But that is probably not going to be a 2022 issue. Buying/building/painting the last parts of the main swam should take the bulk of the year. I’m not going to promise that, although it would make a decent goal to reach.
What I suspect is going to be hitting the bench is Eldar. Reliable rumors promised up a significant (although not complete) influx of models. The rumor engine is all rangers, probably both on foot and on bikes. We’ll see if more gets leaked. But I’m in for at least a box of whatever they put out. The big question is how much and when. I should make an effort to push the old stuff out of the primed pile.
On the marine side I might pick up a box or so to fill out the company. This shouldn’t be necessary in 2022, as I should have enough in the pipe to keep me painting blue for a year.
Paint in ’22 guess:
about 3 dozen bugs, probably an even split of old vs. new. Might go up to 4 doz, which would approach a completion of the army.
~5 “units” of Eldar (guessing 15-20 models). This will include some vehicles and characters. Hopefully all the old stuff, with d6 random new things depending what comes out.
20+ 3rd company marines. This will be about half of what’s needed for the full company.
Assorted other marines. I’ve not some non-company stuff I’m looking forward to doing.
Undead in october. Would like to build/paint the last of the chainwrasps, which would finish the Soul Wars box. I’ve got some other things to build in the Pile of Shame, so should get on that.
Random other things, to spice things up and fill comp goals.
Speaking of random, Day 5:
Spoiler:
I’ve briefly touched on my old Wood Elf army before. It never really got off the ground. Ironic, as it was going to be composed almost entirely with angry trees and things with wings. So I had a few blisters of these gals kicking around collecting dust. Dryads, but not in their sexy wood spirit form. Angry trees. But when the topic of the month was “wild world” it was time to knock the dust off and give them some paint. Which was also one of my fist steps in using contrast paints, and the first time on basically the whole model. Quite happy with how they turned out. They even did well on the poll, probably from good theme adhesion and nostalgia. But also paint. Bit of a shame that they are probably never going to do anything but collect dust from now on. Unfortunately, that can be said about a lot of what I do. It is a bit liberating not to be beholden to army lists, and just to paint for paint’s sake. But the wargamer in me mourns the fact that so few things will see battle, where they belong.
Anyway, that’s enough rambling. Enjoy your Sunday’s all.
Aye, that's the rub, isn't it? You couldn't possibly paint and play a full army of anything, but there's always that "but, maybe" in the back of your mind because they are GAME pieces. I, too, still get caught up in units and armies when really I haven't put GW minis on a table in years. I bought my game group Blitz Bowl teams for Xmas last year. Helped them paint them. Painted my own. The only time we played I was odd man and wound up reffing the matches. Sigh.
Anyway. Dryads still look good. Something about those models. They were some of the few I kept when I got rid of my own short-lived WE army in the great WHFB dump several years ago.
The annual halloween entry. One thing about these guys is that they are almost all washes and drybrushes, which are organic techniques. I know generally where the paint should layer down, or how the washes are going to pool, but every time is a little different. Sometimes it just clicks, others is just there. I really like the way the executioner turned out. There is -just- enough drybrush on his face to show through the ink wash to bring out his face. And the transition to mist on his axe is just right, as is the bleeding into reality on his robe which I don’t get every time.
At this point I’m almost done with the nighthaunt. Not that I am opposed to getting more, but I’m also at the executing a scheme stage with them. I still enjoy painting, but the newness has worn off. I think it’s time to switch to vampries for a bit. Once I finish the last few.
So anyone who’s been listening to me for more than a minute knows my feelings on edge highlights. Hate doing them, finicky work, worth the effort. While not perfect, I like how it came out on the reivers here. Especially on the chapter pads, where I feel I nailed it. Picking chapters was fun. I sifted through all the transfer sheets I had for assorted markings, and picked semi-random colors. Poof! New chapter of marines. Some of the lads do get real chapters, but some are just whatever I have kicking around.
Deathwatch unfortunately are a project that got gutted by the rules change. While technically I can still use all my models, the whole point of the army was in the Kill Teams. And the way they re-jiggered the primaris ones killed my list before it even hit the table. Oh well. Eventually I might get back to them, and still have a few models in the pipe to get painted.
I used the intercessors in my crusade list to represent veteran intercessors. All hope is not lost. But they are a back-burner project for now. Some of that is also the focus on the nids and the company project.
Day 8:
Spoiler:
So the whole “I don’t do a lot of converting” thing. Yah. This guy had a lot of knife work done. And not to pat myself on the back, nailed it. Probably one of my favorite models I’ve done, without qualifiers. Not perfect, but up there. Until I get a phobos captain, he’s going to be leading the 10th company elements on the shelf.
I really need to get painting done. So much other crap going on though. Such is December. And being a homeowner. Sigh. Hang in there eveyone, week’s half over.
Chaplain is worthy of "favorite model" status. The coat is awesome, of course, but I also really like the way you incorporated the Phobos armor elements.
I like the look of those artic marines, the camo and basing really makes a nice contrast to their armor colors, well done., its so rare to see non space wolf marines on snow bases.
Do you have a winter/snow terrain board for the marines and nids to fight over?
brushcommando wrote:That is a sweet conversion. I love the camo-cloak vestments he's wearing.
Probably my favorite of the cloak/robes that I’ve done in camo. The librarian wasn’t bad, but the chaplain wears it best.
youwashock wrote:Chaplain is worthy of "favorite model" status. The coat is awesome, of course, but I also really like the way you incorporated the Phobos armor elements.
I almost skimped out on the legs. It’s a lot of work for a little return. But does sell it a lot more than just the shoulder swap would have. Sometimes I just need to tell the bean counting penny pincher in me to shut up and listen to the Rule of Cool. Could have had one more battle-brother in the fight, but nope, he gets cut up so the chaplain can have new pants. Worth it. Will be interesting to see if we ever actually get rules for phobos chaplains. I’m ready.
ValhallanWinter wrote:I like the look of those artic marines, the camo and basing really makes a nice contrast to their armor colors, well done., its so rare to see non space wolf marines on snow bases.
Do you have a winter/snow terrain board for the marines and nids to fight over?
I have a 6x4 snow mat, but most of my random assortment of terrain doesn’t match. It’s something I need to work on. Some day I want to make the Macragge polar fortress. Or at least some outbuildings and a gate. It’s a dream.
Some armies get typecast on what kind of bases they live on. Wolves in snow, Salamanders on lava. But it’s not like they are mono-clime armies who only fight on their homeworld or similar places. Heck, marines almost never fight on their home turf. They go where the emperor needs them. Someone with more color theory then me could probably tell you what bases work best with what schemes. For me, it’s the 3rd company in the tyranic wars, cleansing the polar fort. Fluff over color. Plus it was easy to retrofit old models into a deep snow flock base. And while the nids are not in the correct behemoth fleet colors, there was no way there were going to be based anything but snow to join battle with my Ultras.
--
So, paint:
Got some more layers down on the marines. Getting there.
Experimenting with getting the exposed bone right on OOE. Tried the white contrast to try to bleach it, not happy. Went over that with a thinned darkoath flesh. Might be OK.
Hive guard got his red, needs the black, and then a LOT of cleanup. Thinking of going back and doing the guards over his feet with purple. They look more like hard armor that weapons, although it’s close. almost did them red.
Eldar helm is kicking along.
Not pictured is 4 stealers clipped in blisters waiting to be cleaned. Claws and hands to seperate them from the stabby ones.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Day 9:
Spoiler:
2020 saw the launch of the tyranids. There is a core of old lead I picked up along the way. It passed through a few hands before it reached mine, and the years were not kind. Rattling around in a shoebox for a couple of decades. These spore mines were a salvage project. They all have an extra GS tentacle or two added to help keep them on their bases. I don’t do a lot of green stuff work, but if you can’t make a tentacle, you should take a long hard look in the mirror and evaluate where you are in life.
So much fun in 2nd edition. Scatter upon firing. And if it didn't blow when it landed, random drift every turn. They killed more time than anything else.
So much fun in 2nd edition. Scatter upon firing. And if it didn't blow when it landed, random drift every turn. They killed more time than anything else.
I loved guess range weapons and scatter dice. But in retrospect, how much did they add to the game? I can’t say I’m sorry to see them gone.
Finished the last of the base coats on the marines. Next steps soon. Did the purple leg armor on the guard. Have tomorrow off, but a tons of things on the to-do list. Some of which is painting.
Viterbi wrote: You take that back with the GS tentacle comment, I'm sure I would fail
Fun pic with all those mines together and the white camo contrasting with the black armour of the chaplain is ace!
They make rollers and templates if you don’t think you can freehand a tentacle. I’ve got more “normal” pics of the mines, but I like the action one. A lot more fun then just minis lined up on a plain background. I should do shots like that more often.
WIP pic from the bench.
Day 10:
Spoiler:
2020 was the year of the sisters. This is the army box they came out with, painted up in one year. 25 models, so not an outrageous goal. By my 1-a-week pace, half a year’s work. Not that i actually paint at that pace, but it’s my yardstick. Got a decent system for these gals, but the white on black is a brutal scheme for those who are not the most precise painters. Was a lot of fun to break out of my normal subjects. Also nice that within the box was an assortment. Not just power armor, but some repentia, arcoflagelents, and that big damn Pengine. Bunch of work with contrast paints here. Used the white on the armor, but also the skin tones and the red for robes.
youwashock wrote: Was it really last year? Wow. Time does fly. Like those Seraphim. Great batch, there.
Time can be fuzzy. For somethings it’s “Didn’t I just paint that” and others it’s “how long ago did that get done?” Like when I was doing a archeological dig back into my blog to find out what’s been sitting in the primed pile the longest. Some things have been lingering back in 2015. Next year I’m going to try to focus on getting some of the old stuff out of there.
It’s hard to tell which of the SoB stuff is my favorite. The icon bearer is up there. As a squad, it’s the seraphim. Also a soft spot for the red robed zealots, both the arcos and repentia. It’s easier to pick out the ones I’m not fond of. The penitent engine and the canoness. Overall, quite pleased with the lot of them.
It’s a fun activity. Good excuse to mull over your collection, pick out some of your favorite work, or bits with story attached, etc. The first time I did it I was more comprehensive, as I was pulling from everything I had done. I also made an effort to make sure at least one representative of all my armies was there, and mixed things up so it wasn’t just in blocks. This year It’s basically a last 3 years in review. Broken up roughly into thirds for each year and mixed samples of the assorted factions.
I don’t think I could do it every year. I mean, technically I could, but it would end up just being part of my year-end woolgathering, just stretched over the whole month. 2022 will be 10 year of me on Dakka, and 2023 will be 10 years blogging. I’ll probably take one of those (2023 most likely) and do a retrospective. Otherwise every 3-4 years seems about right to build up enough stock to choose the best out of.
Day 11:
Spoiler:
These guys are pretty solid representations of my DW. The plan was (and still technically is) to work up a more dedicated squad of vets. The ]first one I did[/url] was designed to play counts-as sternguard. Second was going to have more DW specific hardware, like frag cannons. I like the way these guys turned out, especially the heat work on the flamer part. Need to remember to do that on the eradicators.
Heat stress makes for instant visual interest. Always like seeing it. The DW heavy weapons are great minis. Part of my long-term plan for Marines is a counts-as Devestator squad made up of DW minis.
Is it already the 11th? Dang.
So much coolness around. I like the edge highlights and the snow bases, just my two cents. I made wasteland-style, dirt and dry grasses bases on my first couple marines and feel a little bit trapped in the scheme now. Especially with Gaslands and Zona Alpha models having similar terrain. If I had a complete do over I'd probably pick something else, but oh well.
I agree that fluff should take precedence over most other factors in decisions.
Also, I had a dream last week that I was visiting family out on the East coast and randomly saw a Gondor flag hanging in front of a house. Stopped the car, went up to the door, and we hung out and nerded up.
Not sure if it's cool, or creepy, but just dropping that tidbit of knowledge for you.
youwashock wrote:Heat stress makes for instant visual interest. Always like seeing it. The DW heavy weapons are great minis. Part of my long-term plan for Marines is a counts-as Devestator squad made up of DW minis.
I do enjoy the look of a squad of DW guys. Painting black can be tedious, but all the shoulders are fresh.
DJJazzyJeff wrote:Is it already the 11th? Dang. So much coolness around. I like the edge highlights and the snow bases, just my two cents. I made wasteland-style, dirt and dry grasses bases on my first couple marines and feel a little bit trapped in the scheme now. Especially with Gaslands and Zona Alpha models having similar terrain. If I had a complete do over I'd probably pick something else, but oh well. I agree that fluff should take precedence over most other factors in decisions.
Also, I had a dream last week that I was visiting family out on the East coast and randomly saw a Gondor flag hanging in front of a house. Stopped the car, went up to the door, and we hung out and nerded up. Not sure if it's cool, or creepy, but just dropping that tidbit of knowledge for you.
If I had to do it over, I might have gone for a slushy snow over rubble, rather than deep snow. Lot more work and harder to retrofit onto old minis. But even when basing my minis was still a pipe dream that was never going to happen, it was always gong to be arctic. But I think the white makes a nice contrast with the rich blue I use for my Ultras.
One of the reasons I fly the White Tree is to literally let my geek flag fly. I grew up in an era where being a geek was not well accepted. But I’m tired of hiding it. Not that I expect strangers to come up an knock on my door. But anyone who knocks and says “Can Nevelon come out to play” will be welcomed.
Day 12! Halfway there?
Spoiler:
The core of my camo starts back in 2nd with my marine scouts in tiger stripe. At least in 40k. I might have done some battetech first. But the scouts were in woodland camo. The idea for tiger stripe came from an ork (w/ yellow pants and the bandana) painted by my friend Dave. Seemed very easy and effective. The first arctic camo was on the rangers, although that was more blotch then stripe. The infiltrators were the first of the marine arctic camo, the vanguards of the scheme which all primaris 10th company phobos troops will wear. And I’m quite happy with how they turned out. Enough camouflage to sell the scheme, but enough details popped out for visual interest.
Paint progress: Hive guard done, off waiting to be based. Fresh one down to his spot. Need to start the second blues on the marines. Put the black down on the guns. Finished the Eldar and OOE heads, which is my 12 spare bits for the year
The infiltrators make for a great looking squad. The way you have made use of alternate camo schemes takes me back to the pics in the RT rulebook of the various schemes the chapters had. Or was it Chapter Approved? I forget.
youwashock wrote: The infiltrators make for a great looking squad. The way you have made use of alternate camo schemes takes me back to the pics in the RT rulebook of the various schemes the chapters had. Or was it Chapter Approved? I forget.
Both? I think there were some in the main book, but also a chunk in the red compendium.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Day 13:
Spoiler:
For being a bunch of dead guys, they have a lot of life to them. I found that whenever my eldar stepped out of their transports they immediately evaporated. And not just in hyper lethal 9th edition. These guys are going to be my anchor. Their brothers with the D-scythes do pretty well. Fun kit to build. Not quite as posable as the WL, but pretty good. Eldar have traditionally been my secondary army, but the lack of plastics has really hampered their growth. If rumors hold, expect a revival next year.
youwashock wrote: Always been a big fan of how you choose to make the black more predominant in your Saim-Hann wraiths. Makes the red quite striking.
I don’t remember why I went with the scheme I did so many years ago. It might have just been as simple as I thought the red/white scheme was too bright, so flipped it to red/black. I know at one point I was going to do somethings black with red details and others red with black details to differentiate squads, but just ended up doing all the trooper black with red helmets. When I move the YTD shelf down I should do a full army shot. It’s been a while.
Day 14:
Spoiler:
Sometimes with all the tech gizmos and tacticool operators we forget that SM are basically fantasy knights in space. Their colors are there to herald their presence on the field of battle. And when building to a company, critical to have.
I like the way this guy turned out. Raised detail banners are both a blessing and a curse. Printerd/sticker/decal banners just look a little off from paintwork, but damn that’s a lot of fiddly detail. At least this one is mostly blocks of color. One issue is also you are stuck with what’s on the plastic. One cannot have a 3rd company banner without a Nid getting stabbed through the head, so that wen’t on the base. Actually, you probably could do just fine without if you think about it. Nids are a reasonably new arrival to the galaxy, and the 3rd company has been killing xenos for a long time. Statistically, they probably got their moniker purging orks, and must have older banners in the reliquary.
In painting news I did the second blue pass on one of the marines. I need to get a move on. I also need to do all my cookie baking by the end of the week. December is so much fun.
I’ve still got a number of old guys with empty back-banner poles. Not that I’m likely to get the filled any time soon. In addition to the painting side, they do tend to be a PITA to transport.
Day 15:
Spoiler:
So Mr. Noodle here was the first big bug I did. Nice to see that the contrast paints scaled up. Had a lot of fun painting him. Not that much harder than the gribbles. Bigger bug just gets a bigger brush. First use of the poison scheme in the nids on his tail. It’s just a green ink over yellow, but I like the effect. As a model I really like him, might be my favorite sculpt in the range. He’s just so alien and stabby and nasty. He is not just an overgrown insect out foraging for a snack with some friends. He is a vanguard organism from the outer black, come to strip the life from the galaxy to fill it’s insatiable hunger.
Viterbi wrote: All advent calendar shots are great, but love the Wraithblades. They look a cool mix of sci-fi and archaic.
I don’t need more wraithblades, but kinda want to build a squad with swords. Just nice models to work with and they look so cool.
Day 16:
Spoiler:
Nothing really special about these guys. I wanted to include them to show that I’m still plugging away and enjoying the nighhaunt. At some point I should check if I have enough of them to field an army. I know I’ve a starter box worth, and a few extra units. Also, how do allies work in AoS? If it’s not crippling like in 40k that makes life a lot easier. I would like to see them on the table at some point. At the very least I should get some army shots once I finish the soul wars box.
These are the last of the 2020 entries. Not a bad year from a painting PoV. Next up will be something a bit newer.
youwashock wrote:I hear you on the Wraithguard. I have found myself wondering what sort of trouble I could get into with the leftover bits from my Exodites.
That big bug really delivers.
I think he’s my favorite of all my nids. The flyrant is up there though...
Captain Brown wrote:Advent continues...
CB
One day at a time!
So some painting progress. 2 marines with their second blues, one more to go and then the ink. Guns just got some color on their nozzles. I put down some darkoath flesh this afternoon, and just now a layer of the purple contrast. Going to give them a silver drybrush when that dries to tie it together. New strategy of heat weathering, we’ll see how it goes. Need to touch up and then flesh wash the hive guard.
And also bake/frost a lot of cookies tonight. And have a drink; it’s been a long week.
JoshInJapan wrote: I've been enjoying your advent calendar-- your collection is so different from mine!
Baking and drinking go together like chocolate and peanut butter. Enjoy!
Some of my oldest minis can match what you have, but I lack the depth of antiquity of your stuff. Plus you paint way better. It would be a blast to see you pull 2 dozen of the best/most storied things from your collection.
--
I’m not sure if I remember to copy/paste this up every year, but here are some internet cookies for all my loyal followers. I’m not shipping cookies out, and am only making the first 4 types this year. Some assembly required.
Brownie Roll-out Cookies
Spoiler:
3 Cups Flour (all purpose)
2/3 Cups Unsweetened coco powder
¾ tsp. Salt
½ tsp. Baking powder
1 Cup Butter
1 ½ Cups Sugar
2 Eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla
Bake at 350 for 8-11 minutes.
Cream butter and sugar. Combine the dry goods in a separate bowl. Add the eggs and vanilla to the butter/sugar mix once it’s light and fluffy. Slowly add the dry ingredients. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for an hour before rolling and cutting.
While these are called “roll out” cookies I’ve never made them that way. I take the dough and form it into a ~1½” log and refrigerate it that way (but could be frozen for later). Then I just cut it into ¼” slices and bake. We frost these with a peppermint royal icing and sprinkle crushed candy canes on top to give out for the holidays.
Cranberry Pistachio cookies
Spoiler:
1 ½ Cup Flour
½ tsp. Cinnamon
¼ tsp. Salt
¾ Cup unsalted butter (softened, 1.5 sticks)
¼ Cup plus 2 Tablespoons Sugar. (total of 3/8 cups)
½ tsp. Orange zest
½ Cup Pistachios
1/3 Cup Dried cranberries
1 Egg, lightly beaten
¼ Cup Turbinado or decorative sugar (coarse, for rolling)
Mix dry ingredients (flour, cinnamon, salt). Cream butter, sugar, and zest. Add the dry, and once that is incorporated, the bits (nuts/fruit). Form into a 1 ½” log, wrap in plastic wrap, square off, and chill for 2 hours. Once the dough has firmed up, brush with the egg and roll in the sugar. Cut into ¼” slices, and bake in a pre-heated 350 oven for 15-18 minutes.
For best results use unsalted pistachios. If you can only find the salted ones, let them soak in some water for a bit before mixing them in. Pour off the brine and dry them on a paper towel before mixing them in, and probably cut the salt out of the dry goods.
Candied Pecans
Spoiler:
1 egg white
1 tsp. orange juice
1 lb. pecans
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. allspice or mace
1 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
Beat egg white with orange juice until stiff. Mix pecans in egg mixture until coated. Mix dry ingredients and toss to coat pecans. Bake on foil lined cookie sheet (or use a silpat) for 1 hour at 225. Stir once or twice while baking. Cool and store in airtight container.
Shortbread
Spoiler:
Recipe redacted by order of the Inquisition.
Cinnamon Bears
Spoiler:
1/2 lb. butter
1 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 egg beaten with 1 tsp. water
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
3 c. flour
Roll dough 1/8 inch thick. Cut with cookie cutters. Decorate with colored sugars and candies or frost with royal icing with the help of small children. Bake at 375 for 6-8 minutes. Watch and remove from oven when light brown. Cooking time can vary greatly with the thickness of the dough.
VARIATIONS:
To make cinnamon bears, add cinnamon and allspice to the dough. Cut with bear cookie cutter. Decorate with a chocolate chip for the nose and two silver candies for eyes.
Rugelach
Spoiler:
8 oz cream cheese at room temperature
½ lb butter at room temperature
¼ cup sugar
¼ tsp kosher salt
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
Filling:
6 Talespoons sugar
¼ cup light brown sugar
1 ½ tsp cinnamon
¾ cup raisins
1 cup walnuts finely chopped
½ cup apricot preserves or jam(any preserve or jam will do)
Cream the cream cheese and butter. Add the sugar salt and vanilla and then the flour. Divide dough into 4 pieces, wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour. Mix all filling ingredient except the jam. On a well floured board, roll out a ball of dough into a 9 inch circle. Spread with 2 Tablespoons of jam and sprinkle with ½ cup of the filling. Cut the circle into 12 wedges (a pizza cutter is the best tool for this). Starting with the wide edge, roll up each wedge into a crescent. Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silpat. Repeat with remaining dough. Make an egg wash from I egg beaten with 1 Tablespoon mile. Brush each cookie with a little egg wash. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar (3 Tablespoons sugar mixed with 1 tsp cinnamon). Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.
Man I missed some pretty cool stuff the last couple days. I really like the banner bearer and your nod to the sword-in-head tyranid. Also the burrower bug. I played a lot of the original Starcraft when I was in middle-school and those guys remind me of oversized hydralisks.
JoshInJapan wrote: I've been enjoying your advent calendar-- your collection is so different from mine!
Baking and drinking go together like chocolate and peanut butter. Enjoy!
Some of my oldest minis can match what you have, but I lack the depth of antiquity of your stuff. Plus you paint way better. It would be a blast to see you pull 2 dozen of the best/most storied things from your collection.
It's a little late for an advent calendar, but I'm planning to do and end-of-year retrospective. I might slip in some older stuff for comparison.
Thanks for sharing the recipes. I'll have to give a few of them a try.
brushcommando wrote:Man I missed some pretty cool stuff the last couple days. I really like the banner bearer and your nod to the sword-in-head tyranid. Also the burrower bug. I played a lot of the original Starcraft when I was in middle-school and those guys remind me of oversized hydralisks.
Thanks. I also played a ton of Starcraft. There is a lot of overlap, and that’s not a bad thing.
JoshInJapan wrote:
It's a little late for an advent calendar, but I'm planning to do and end-of-year retrospective. I might slip in some older stuff for comparison.
Thanks for sharing the recipes. I'll have to give a few of them a try.
There is always next year. It pays to think ahead. And enjoy!
Day 17:
Spoiler:
Indominus was a great box. So many awesome things in there. The chaplain being one of them. I think the only thing I did to him was swap out a shoulderpad for the Ultra one. IMHO chaplains are the heart of 40k. Space Marines, on their own, are power armored super soldiers. Sure, they have some unique aspects, but pretty mainstream sci-fi material. Chaplains though, they are where the grimdark 40k comes out. They are the warrior priest/monk/knight with death in one hand, salvation in the other. The battlefield is their temple. It helps that almost every single chaplain mini GW ever made was composed of pure awesome and oozed character. This guy with his bionic face is the primaris version of my classic chaplain who’s been tending to the faith of my marines since the dawn of time. Appropriate that he’s going to be standing at the head of my new company. They might be taller, and have clean armor and more sensible gear than the firstborn, but they will follow the rights and rituals of the Chapter.
He also has the distinction of being the last mini painted before my move into my house.
youwashock wrote: Chaplains do indeed rule. From RT on down, they make for great minis.
I should break them all out for a photo op. Been a while since I did that. Used to have group pics by HQ, but have added a lot since last I took them.
Some progress:
Nid needs his black wash, teeth, and touch up.
Marines need ink. Guns are done, arms need second blue/ink, and the one with the shoulder attached needs the red rim and purity seal done. Plugging along.
Speaking of group shots. Wave of gribbles. Some of these were painted in 2020, but the unit was finished this year. 30 bugs, half with fleshborers, half with devourerers. Mostly plastic, but 6 old lead guys hiding in there. I enjoyed these guys. They are small and fast. When other projects were slogging, I could zip a few of these across the workbench to keep me active and engaged. If they release a new kit, I might start another blob, but I’m trying not to let the nids get out of hand. But they are a core part of my vision for the army. Carpet of gribbles, with a few large bugs scattered among them. Realistically, there is a cap on how dense the carpet can be, mostly due to budget and space concerns. I’m hoping these guys, the hormagaunts, and genestealers can get me to that level. This was also me trying to get my horde photography skills up. Still needs work, but some nice results here.
youwashock wrote: The underbite gives a few of the metal guys away. Definitely getting that swarm feel.
Orthodonture is expensive, and there are a lot of teeth in the swarm. We do what we can for the little guys, but some of them just need to make do.
Got the ink down on the marines. Edges and clean up for them. Red on the gun arm. Hive guard got his black wash, base details and clean up next. In an ideal world i’d like to have all the paint done on everyone by the end of the weekend, with just decals and bases left. Running out of time.
Plugging along. Finished the HG, moved the last one down. It will be a stretch goal, but in theory he should paint up fast. And if I can get him done, that’s the squad of 3. Did a little touch up on the marines already. The edges are going to be the main goal for the day. That and shoveling my driveway. Whee snow.
Day 19:
Spoiler:
I should probably use shots like this instead of my normal zoom out squad shots for the contest entries. Much more evocative. Wayyyyy back at the start of this blog I had a separate list of goals, not my annual New Year’s resolutions. One of them was to get better at photography. I need to remember that it’s not just light and focus, but also composition and framing. I need to keep progressing.
The assault intercessor kit is a lot of fun. Great action for the running legs, tons of cool toys for the sarge. Really enjoyed building and painting them. No idea how well they do on the battlefield. Probably a lot better for someone with an assault phase chapter tactics. We Ultras love our rifles in the tactical doctrine. But they are cool models, and a cornerstone of the battle company.
Automatically Appended Next Post: I’ve got stuff with deadlines and I’m running out of time. I also have a bonus project. Want to guess where my day went? I edged the sarge, and the HG is ready for his black wash, almost done. /eyeroll. I blame trying to scrape crusted snow/ice off my driveway while trying not to die, interspersed with season 2 of the Witcher. Not really feeling the detail work today. I’ll try to get the other two marines edged after dinner. And get some more clean up on them.
youwashock wrote: The power fist on the sarge looks great, and I am a big fan of the guy 2-fisting the bolt pistols.
In case I didn't mention it the first time 'round.
Agree. I like the energy coming off the fist. Most power fists are just there. Sure, there is a literal fist, and punching could happen, but there isn’t a lot of action. You can feel the tension in this one. Someone is going to get crushed. The twin pistol guy is my favorite in the squad. Had a lot of fun with him.
So not a horrible day’s work. All the marines have their blue edges done. Reds need another base coat to clean, and then the highlight red. Arms just got inked, so need edges, and the shoulder needs the other red work as well. Guns probably needs a little touch up on the silvers, but I’ll wait until they are assembled for that.
Hive guard needs clean up passes, but is otherwise just about done.
After that it’s decals and base work all around. Which will probably wrap up the bench for the year. Driving down to visit my folks on Friday, assuming nothing comes up. Be there for a week, back on the first. Might start something, or try to flock a hill quick. Build some of the stuff kicking around. We’ll see how much time is left after I finish what I’ve got going on.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Day 20:
Spoiler:
The new banshees are lovely models. Basically mono-pose, but to keep the sense of movement, that’s kind of unavoidable. But as I am not using them to form the core of my army, not a huge deal. I wouldn’t turn down another 5, but at the price they are asking for them, am not going to buy more.
While not the 95% contrast that the nids are, these ladies use a lot of it. Details are still traditional paints, but the hair and armor are not. And that’s a lot of them. I did a little highlighting on the exarch, but decided that it was not needed.
Hopefully they can get some decent rules in the next codex. It’s not that they are bad per sea, but they don’t do the job they are supposed to be doing.
youwashock wrote: Those Hive Guard really went fast. That must be terribly satisfying. Looking forward to the glamor shots for the Eradicators.
Bigger bugs don’t take that much more time then the little ones. They just get a bigger brush. And the HG don’t have eyes, so I get to skip a few steps. We’ll see how motivated I am today. but I should have everyone based by the end of the day.
Day 21:
Spoiler:
A few things going on with these guys. They are the mono-build ones from the indominus box. Which actually has some options. Sarge has a few, and the arms are just on pegs that can be snipped off clean to the torso, so can easily take arm (and head) swaps. The one gotcha is that they have empty holsters on their belts. This is where my packrat nature comes in. Back in the day, bolters came with handles on, and the hands were closed fists. I much preferred it to these days where the hand is on the gun. But it means a lot of us oldsters have a bunch of spare handles in our bits boxes. Nice to have when you need to stuff holsters.
The ABRs come from the stock intercessor kit. Building tac marines with assault marine legs is an old trick, and crosses the rubicon primaris quite well. To big to hitch a ride in a rhino? They got the leg it, double time, to get to the objective. Changes the motion of the squad a LOT.
These were the first guys painted with the new brushes. i can’t say it’s improved my work, but it does feel like I fight them a lot less about where the paint is going. So that’s a win. Do worry about screwing them up, but they’ve lasted the year without major damage.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Didn’t have time to base the HG this morning, but did these guys. Pics over lunch.
The Eradicators came out really nice! Hive guard as well. Also good work with the running intercessors. I'm all the more impressed on any conversions with GW's new monopose minis.
youwashock wrote:I do like some Gravis armor. They're ready to bring that heat.
Nice work getting the extra level of detail on the Intercessors with the handles in the holsters.
brushcommando wrote:The Eradicators came out really nice! Hive guard as well. Also good work with the running intercessors. I'm all the more impressed on any conversions with GW's new monopose minis.
Very minimal work, but thanks. If using the full kit, there are plenty of holstered pistols to spare. It’s just when working with the ETB that it’s an issue. The new kits are not that bad. You are basically locked into the leg/torso position, but still have a good range with the arms/head. Still a lot to work with. The biggest issue is that there is almost no reason you need to. Units for the table come straight from the box. You can chop and mix and match, but there is a lot less reason to do so these days. /rant.
Anyway, some pics:
Thinking about it, I don’t have a lot of the mid range bugs. These guys will help fill that gap.
And here is a year in paint:
You know it’s a good year when you need the second shelf for overflow. Unless I’ve done my math wrong, 97 minis. Plus the 12 spare bits, so if I want to use fuzzy math I can claim over 100. Don’t think I’ll bother. Solid year’s work. I might start my year end ramblings, or they might wait until the new year. Driving down to visit my folks, so mostly AFK from Friday for a week. And I need to get ready for the trip, and try not to go crazy from a hellish week at work. Fun times.
Nice work for the year, and a nice mix of types and sizes. Hopefully work lets up a bit for you. You could still squeek in 100 if you moved another three termigaunts or the like across through...
Vejut wrote: Nice work for the year, and a nice mix of types and sizes. Hopefully work lets up a bit for you. You could still squeek in 100 if you moved another three termigaunts or the like across through...
Unfortunately, the only nids left in the primed pile are a carnafex and 3 ripper swarms. And while the big bigs for fast, ironically the little ones take longer. I have to be more careful and the details are tiny.
But not to be one to shirk a challenge, I’ve moved 3 more models down to the paint bench. I know I can bang out a RTB01 in under 2 hours while drunk. There is a thread with proof here on Dakka. I should be able to get 3 done in a few days.
Already got the first blues down. Might try for the blacks after this post.
You've been doing some really cool stuff lately; the Eradicators and Hive Guard turned out great! I also really like your advent calendar idea; a bit late for me now but maybe next year I'll do something similar. Speaking of which, maybe I need to blow the dust off of my own P&M blog soon; just haven't had the gumption to take any pics of stuff lately.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Also I'm still pretty jealous that you've got those old RTB01 models; I've wanted to find some of those just to have them (and say that I've got models as old as me!), but they are ridiculously expensive on eBay. Maybe one day...
One of the perks of being older than dirt is having classic toys. If 30k ever takes off locally, I’m going to have some pre-hearsey legion squads.
Day 22:
Spoiler:
So one more batch of these guys is all that’s left of the soul wars box. That said I still have some skeletons and black knights/hexwraiths on sprue. But they just announced that Cursed City is coming back. Such a nice looking box, full of night time spooks and terrors. What I should do is build the rest of these guys and use them as a spare handle project, like how I painted most of the gaunts. When I started my undead legion, they were all one big happy family. Then we got split into Tomb Kings and Vampire Counts. Now Nighthaunt is separate. I do love the ghosty spooks, but my unbeating heart has fangs. I’m a little sad that the etherial jaunt is coming to a close, but sometime you just need to drain some presents of their blood and animate their bones into a shambling mockery of life. Looking forward to some fresh blood in 2022.
So some progress, both quick and slow. Got a bunch of steps done last night and this morning. Work today was murder. High stress, which tends to wad up in my neck and back, the same places that hurt if I paint too long. So I did the second blue coat on one of these guys and decided I need to step back. Friday I’m doing a 13ish hour drive, and my broken self is going to be in enough pain as it is. So I’m not going to push to get these guys done before I go. I might try a few layers if I feel up to it. But right now I’m going to focus on resting and relaxing.
It was worth a shot (and might still happen), but I’m not going to force it. They can be the first minis of 2022. Which might need all the help it can get for my paint more then I buy goal. Big Eldar drop, Cursed City, box of marines or two, maybe some more nids. It’s going to be ugly.
Eh whenever you get time to get to them. Hobby goals should be fun and not stressful otherwise it sort of contradicts the point of the hobby. I'm genuinely super-stoked to see RTB01 models crossing somebody's paint bench. Just makes me all the more salty that the unopened box of them I almost managed to get my hands on got away. But hey, maybe that rumored HH box set comes out this year and we can all bask in a little bit of rogue trader era greatness...
After picking up the last 2 30k boxes, I’m not sure I’d get another. How many power armor marines does one person need? We’ll see. I’m a sucker for beakies. Crap, now I’ve thought about it. I use use the newer guys to make specialist squads while the RTB01s form the line of bolter boys. Hopefully the price is not crazy. I could end up with a company worth again.
Day 23 (almost there)
Spoiler:
While the need for more tactical marines can be debated, the need for more primaris lieutenants cannot. After all, we need two for every captain we have, right? And while probably not as bad as the memes would have you believe, GW does like to crank them out.
So this guy is a simple head swap. Nothing fancy, but changes him a bit. His action pose didn’t suit the tacticool head he came with. This was a guy who needed to be bald and screaming. Quite please with how he turned out.
youwashock wrote: That face turned out really well. Also, if there's a HH box with Mk V's in it, I will be needing some of that.
Contrast paints are magic for faces. I dead them a lot less then I used to. Still need to deal with the eyes.
They have done a mk 3 and a mk. 4 box, there is the old pic leaked about the mk. 6. 5 and 2 are the other options. Chaos players would lap up a mk.V box. We’ll see what happens long term.
Automatically Appended Next Post: OK, it’s a little early, but I need to trust you all not to open the spoiler until the 24th. Hopefully I’ll be hitting the road at some stupidly early O’clock tomorrow, so won’t have a chance to post this.
Spoiler:
So the flyrant is one of the cornerstones of a ‘nid army. She’s the gal in charge. Same basic scheme as the rest of the nids, but with pretty much all the options. The double washed wings, a little venom action on the cannon, gloss on the tongue. Only thing she’s missing is the blue eyes of the genestealers. She came together fast and well. Might have been the first thing off the new paintbench at my house. I’m not going to say she’s the best thing I’ve painted, but she is up there.
She also got me to the podium for the first time i the challenge. I’ve had one or two other guys who ranked in the top third of the votes, but nothing really in strike range of a medal. Admittedly, it was a 6 way tie for third, but I’ll take it. Might be the best I do. I’d say I might have a change when the sun goes dim and it’s just me and Para competing, each too stubborn to miss a challenge. But I think I’ve got a few years on him, so barring some rejuve treatments, he’ll probably outlast me in the long game.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Edit2:
And as an extra bonus, the Demi-company. With more than it’s share of command assets (almost all? Apothecary still to do, no dreads yet.). A lot of the front halves of squads; need a lot of back fill to complete 10 man squads.
Also need better lighting. Tight fit in the lightbox there.
23 models and 57 points less than last year, but still a solid year of work. Last year was a bit crazy as far as production went. Nice range of stuff. Didn’t get any Deathwatch done, but a little GSC snuck in as the 5th faction. And from a diversity standpoint, the phobos and banshees are separate schemes from the rest of their range.
Once I get back home (drive up Sat) I’ll get unit shots of everyone who didn’t get one, my formal EOY shot, and start my recap in earnest.
23 models and 57 points less than last year, but still a solid year of work. Last year was a bit crazy as far as production went. Nice range of stuff. Didn’t get any Deathwatch done, but a little GSC snuck in as the 5th faction. And from a diversity standpoint, the phobos and banshees are separate schemes from the rest of their range.
Once I get back home (drive up Sat) I’ll get unit shots of everyone who didn’t get one, my formal EOY shot, and start my recap in earnest.
— Nev
OK, back home. Time for some more year end woolgathering.
This year was dominated by nids and marines. Feels a little off, but last year I was painting a SoB army (with some sub-factions) so it felt like I was doing a lot more things. Not helped that my 5th army was the lone Magus for GSC, which is just a modified nid scheme.
Doing army totals. Will post the results next.
Hope everyone’s New Year is off to a great start.
Edit: Marines 16,785 points. Tyranids 1,645 points. Eldar 4,023
ZergSmasher wrote: Nice end of year wrap up. Guess I'd better do mine soon, eh?
It will probably take me a few days to get all mine done. While I have my summery finished, I still need to review my goals, compare to my start of year predictions, set new goals, and roadmap the new year.
But yes, you need to get yours done. Looking forward to it.
Viterbi wrote: Great end-of-year shot and it‘s fun seeing the sneaky marines on the snow fields.
The phobos contingent is getting up there. 15 troopers, 3 snipers, 3 HQs. 6 more snipers in the primed pile. I enjoy painting them, so odds of more showing up are good. One of these days I’ll grab the phobos captain, and I still have a plan for an Invader ATV counts-as. And while I have no plans on buying any, if I accidentally pick up any reavers in a bundle deal, they are also going to wear the snow camo.
Speaking of picking stuff up, next year is going to be bad for my wallet. Some of it might be able to be pushed back.
Cursed City. - $200?
Eldar/Chaos box (rangers, ranger bikes, autarch) I suspect that I’m going to just be better off with the box, even if I just drop the chaos into the pile of shame. With Shadowspear, I ended up with almost everything from the marine side, and ended up paying more then if I had. We’ll see when we get pricing. Or if they do some sort of Eldar launch box. We are also expecting a new Avatar, Magun Ra, and presumably Dark Reapers. Maybe a corsairs KT. I need all of this. I’m guessing $3-450. Plus a new codex when it drops. Ouch. Some of this might get kicked down the road. We’ll see how it releases.
Some new nids in the New Year teaser vid. Look like shrikes. I suspect I’ll pick up 2-3 boxes of bugs this year. Maybe new stuff, probably an old box or two. Call it $120
Oddly, I think I don’t need any marines. To fill out the company I’m going to need 3 boxes (reg, heavy intercessors, a 3 man FA pick). The prime/to build pile should be enough to cover 2022 though, so these can wait. Barring a new shiny must-have thing.
My paint more then I buy goal is going to be sorely tested this year. And probably twice what I spent on the hobby this year.
New Avatar and Maugan Ra are going to be musts for me. I can hopefully pass on everything else. Which is good, since I had a rough year on the productivity front.
Glorious year-end shot. Great job, as always, sticking to your regimen and goals.
Right now I’ve got some genestealers being built, 3 RTB01s that I didn’t finish last year as WIP, and the screamer-killer moved down as this month’s competition subject.
6x Deathwatch Vets. (2 were poached from the destroyer squad to make gunslinger VVs. If 30k returns, they might be given back.)
Stomhawk Wave Serpent Land Speeder Typhoon Bits and parts.
So like 66 things. I could potently do that in one year.
The to-prime pile in the other fex, and a GSC cultist.
To build: More genestealers. At least a dozen. More Intercessors. At least 10. Gladiator/Impulsor Chainwrasps (Also other undead, skeletons, black knights) <new stuff>
Despite me looking at picking up a TON of new stuff this year, I also want to make a strong push to clear the decks. While I’m sure a lot of new purchases are going to be bought/built/painted all in the same year, I want to get at least one old thing out of the pile for every new one painted. Given my normal work cycle this should not be an issue. I also want to dredge some of the oldest stuff out of the pile and get it done. I’ve got stuff in the primed pile from back in 2015.
Roadmap for 2022:
25+ Marines. I want to get half the remaining company done, but also some of the random units/characters done. 3+ units of Eldar. I’d like to get the old stuff painted before the new, but honestly that might not happen. At least one old unit will leave the primed pile. All the Nids. 1 ‘fex, 3 rippers, and a dozen stealers. No new stuff until this is cleared. I might cheat a little and let some stealers slide, as they make good filler projects. 2 Undead units. I’ve been doing 1-a-year, but have a few extras in the Pile of Shame. Finish the last of the Soul Wars box and one of the others.
What exactly gets done depends a lot on the release cycle. If we get a lot of the Eldar out before cursed city drops (and they promise to keep in in stock this time) I might push CC back to help save the budget. But if it comes out early, I’ll grab it and some of the later Eldar will have to wait. Or if my tax return is crazy, I buy all the minis. This is unlikely, as I also need to sink a bit of cash into the house. Which is more important? Revitalizing an army with fresh plastic, or a dishwasher that isn’t as loud as the garbage disposal? Being an adult is all about those hard choices. On the flip side, being single means I don’t need to justify myself to anyone if i decide that my noise canceling headphones work just fine for when I need to run dishes through.
Storage is getting to be an issue. Everyone fits for now, but the deathwatch had to shuffle a bit to make space for the new bugs. They will not be able to share a shelf next year. The new Demi-co is also pushing hard on space. I might have to steal another shelf from the stemware for the Ultras. Honestly, I could probably move everything but 6 glasses to a cabinet and be fine. Again, the perks of being single.
Automatically Appended Next Post: So resolutions:
At the start of the year I wrote: Here are my New Year’s resolutions: 1 Paint 20 members for the primaris battle company (31/20) 2 Paint more than I buy. (97/20) 3 Paint At least 12 spare bits. I've magnetized a number of things, painted the primary set up, but never get around to doing the other options. (12/12) 4 Try to get more games in. At least 12. (7) 5 Update my blog at least once a week, and maintain a consistent pace of work (1 mini a week). 6 Paint at least one unit for 5 different factions. (5/5) 7 Enter and finish an entry every month for the painting challenge. If the monthly challenge stops, enter at least one comp in the year. In addition, paint something odd from the back of the bench a/o try out a new technique. 8 Buy, build, and/or paint at least one piece of terrain.
1 - Solid win with room to spare. 2 - Again, solid win. Even if I didn’t discount gifts, it was a net loss for the Pile of Shame. 3 - It’s a win. Almost didn’t make it. 4 - Fail. A few reasons for this. One is the ongoing pandemic. Not gaming at the FLGS. The other is that The Boy has come clean that he prefers the building/painting a lot more then the play. Part of that is the complexity, the other part is his only opponent (me) has literally lifetimes more experience in the game than he does. He has enough stress in his life i try not to push the point and force games out of him. 5 - I’m a good blogger, and am cranking out the models. Even discounting the nids as cheating with contrast (which I would not do) i’m still making my goals. 6 - This is a little bit of a stretch. The magus as GSC, not Nids is a little handwavium. But the eldar/marines have multiple schemes, so we’ll let that slide. 7 - Win. Still maintaining my perfect record of entering the comp, with an actual podium finish this year. Plus helped run it for a chunk of time. Some old lead got paint, so that’s a win as well. 8 - Fail. I’ve got a hill I cut the year before that I plastered, still needs flock. I need to get off my tail and make some terrain.
So 6 wins, 2 losses. Not horrible.
Anything I want to change for 2022?
I’m going to drop the bit about getting games in. I don’t want to pressure The Boy just to make my goals, and it’s really not safe out there. I’m going to split 7 to focus on the old stuff. Modifying 8 to try to join the LoER again.
So for 2022: Here are my New Year’s resolutions: 1 Paint 20 members for the primaris battle company 2 Paint more than I buy. 3 Paint At least 12 spare bits. I've magnetized a number of things, painted the primary set up, but never get around to doing the other options. 4 Paint at least 3 units that have been in the primed pile/Pile of Shame for 3+ years 5 Update my blog at least once a week, and maintain a consistent pace of work (1 mini a week). 6 Paint at least one unit for 5 different factions. 7 Enter and finish an entry every month for the painting challenge. If the monthly challenge stops, enter at least one comp in the year. 8 Buy, build, and/or paint at least one piece of terrain. Try to enter the new format LoER contest at least once.
Automatically Appended Next Post: So looking back at what I thought was going to happen last year:
I wrote: Top of the Pile of Shame: 1x Hive Tyrant 1x Exocrine 3x Hive Guard 10x Gargoyles (plus dust off some old metals) 24x Genestealers (If crazy, dust off and repair old ones from the deeps)
5x Intercessors (back half of a squad or KT specialists)
Short list to purchase: 10x Assault intercessors 1x Gladiator tank (magnetize as Impulsor)
Known items that I will buy when released: 10x Heavy intercessors 3x Bladeguard Vets (really 2 BGVs and a new Captain)
Potential additions to the swarm: Carnefex Zoanthropes Another box of each of the gaunts (Raveners) (Warriors)
The to-buy list is just the known things. It does not include "known unknowns” like we know there is something KT related coming soonish, but nothing but a teaser video. Keeping half an eye on that. Or true unknowns. Like if we get another set of plastic aspect warriors released this year, which would find a home here. I’m going to continue to try to keep the nids pile of shame neutral, and not buy any more units until I paint up the ones I’ve purchased. Right now, I’ve bought 11 and painted 7. So at least 4 units need to get paint before I spawn any more.
I expect this year to be primarily Ultramarines early, with increased tyranid activity over the summer and into the rest of the year. While there is going to be a lot of blue, I also want to get some of the HQs and phobos non-company stuff done. Eliminators and Techmarine are probably going to be early additions to the force, as I’d like to add them to my crusade list.
I built the stuff from the top of the Pile of Shame, mostly (half the stealers), bought most of what I was planning (half the HIs), and half the swarm (Fexs, one box gaunts)
Nids are doing good at keeping out of the pile of shame. Still a lot of stealers in there. Techmarine never got done, but the eliminators did. Mostly 3rd co as suspected, but also the odd marine here and there
Archived copy of the 2021 front page
Spoiler:
Here are my New Year’s resolutions: 1 Paint 20 members for the primaris battle company (31/20) 2 Paint more than I buy. (97/20) 3 Paint At least 12 spare bits. I've magnetized a number of things, painted the primary set up, but never get around to doing the other options. (12/12) 4 Try to get more games in. At least 12. (7) 5 Update my blog at least once a week, and maintain a consistent pace of work (1 mini a week). 6 Paint at least one unit for 5 different factions. (5/5) 7 Enter and finish an entry every month for the painting challenge. If the monthly challenge stops, enter at least one comp in the year. In addition, paint something odd from the back of the bench a/o try out a new technique. 8 Buy, build, and/or paint at least one piece of terrain.
Money spent on the hobby: $315.00 10 assault intercessors $55 3 bladeguard vets $42 Frozen Tufts $10 5 heavy intercessors $55 Warhammer+ year sub $60 2x Carnefexes $80 2x Paint $13 (Grey Seer, Guiliman flesh)
Games played: 6/1/0 Ultramarine vs. Salamanders, Crusade. 1/2 Loss Tryanids vs. Salamanders, Crusade. 1/17 Win Tryanids vs. Salamanders, Crusade. 2/1 Win Tryanids vs. Salamanders, Crusade. 2/14 Win Ultramarine vs. Salamanders, Crusade. 2/28 Win Ultramarine vs. Salamanders, Crusade. 5/15 Win Tryanids vs. Salamanders, Crusade. 8/8 Win
Still haven’t touched the marines, but the fex is almost done. Need to do the cleanup pass on the head/arms. Body is done. After that time to base. Which I guess I could start before the bits are done.
After that I need to finish up the marines and figure out what else needs to start moving across the paint bench. Going to be a busy year, need to get stuff done.
youwashock wrote: Looking forward to final assembly on the Carnifex. Another cool big bug.
Ask, and ye shall receive.
Nothing to terribly earth shaking about this guy. Besides his mass and giant feet. But fun to get done. He gets the honor of being the first thing done this year, and gets to stake out his spot on the YTD shelf.
Some quick swaps and he’s OOE:
3 marines all have their second blues done, ready for ink.
Motivation is not in the air around here. Looking at the piles and not really feeling it. Same with building the stealers. Cleaned the body for one, and just no interest. Sigh.
The Carnifex(es) came out great! I do hear you about the lack of motivation. I've been experiencing it myself a bit as well. The grey skies and bitter cold of January isn't always quite the invigorating period of renewal promised by New Year's eve optimism... ah well. Give it some time and I'm sure you'll get your painting mojo back soon. At the very least you can be proud of finishing your January entry with two thirds of the month left to go!
Ink down on the marines, bolter arms got their second blue coat. Almost there. Will grab pics later
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Moved the Wave Serpent down. It’s been waiting a bit, should go reasonably quick, and will be needed to keep fire off the frail little eldar who should be releasing at some point soonish.
One problem with the 4x stabby claws is that they get in each other’s way. Especially when magnetizing. The crab claws look better just tucked in a bit, so the whole model flows a bit better.
Marines have their bases tidied up and rocks/tufts glued down. Waiting for flock. And decals.
WS is moving right along.
Red is going to need more coats, started plugging away at the accessories. Under chassis is pretty much done with the main work. I should pick out some stuff in silver, just because. Not that you’ll see it most of the time.
Eldar rumors keep trickling in. Probably going to want that new warlock. Sigh. Going to be a bad year.
Best not to rage-quit my job. Need the income for plastic crack. Been a rough week and today is going to be bad.
They're really going to be surprised when the Wave Serpent buzzes them.
I think they’d be glad top see Eldar over Nids. While both filthy xenos, the Eldar can be reasoned with.
A fun little side game is to look at the YTD shelf and see who would win on the table. End of year, it’s always the Ultras. Even during peak nids, the Ultras still had them outnumbered and outgunned. This year we might see the Eldar take the prize. While I plan on painting a bunch of marines, they are going to be primarily line troopers. Although a few HQs and heavy hitters might make their way across the bench. But I’ve got big plans for the elves, depending on the release schedule.
Primed and waiting
5x Dire Avengers
1x Jetseer
1x War Walker
Pile of Shame/ to build:
1 old bike
1 farseer on foot
Assorted old metals
If the rumors are true that Harlis are going to be wrapped back into the codex, I’ve got a chunk of old lead that could come out to play. Might strip the ones I’ve already painted and just start fresh.
Things to get:
ALL THE SHINIES
Seriously, I’ve not seen anything leaked that I don’t covet. The only question is what I grab on release, and what I can wait for. I suspect that because I want everything I’ll pick up all the bundle discounts, and pass on the single boxes for now. If it’s part of the normal range, no reason to go all-in on launch. Despite me really wanting to. I think there are more things coming out then I can paint in a year anyway. And if the Vs. box is priced right, I might end up with a chunk of chaos as well.
OK, that’s enough rambling. Out of coffee, time to start my weekend.
Underchassis pretty much done. Top needs some cleanup done from the black work. Happy with the red coverage. Next step is probably the blacklining after that. Guns need to be tidied up from where they are on the magnets. Turret mount needs to be started. Gun covers and pilot are working along.
Feels a little bit odd not to have anything on the painting handles. I really should move something down and start working some units across the bench. I figure if I do a 5 man 3rd company marine squad quarterly, that will make my goal. As I’m going to do that for March’s competition, it leaves the next couple of months free for non-company goals. I could try to get more Eldar done, or pick something that’s been waiting forever. But there is a reason those things have been waiting...
Oh well. No rush. Lazy weekend. I should probably clean some mold lines.
Need to clean up the blacklines in a few places. Do them on the turret (and clean those up assuming a little of my normal slop)
Pilot is almost done; skin tone and a little touch up.
Glass needs everything done. That’s steady hand work. But the last major step.
Almost done. Will go over it post-glue and tidy up any spots where all the handling caused some paint wear. I’ve not done any red highlighting, as I don’t think I’ve done that on my Eldar yet. Might go back at some point and refurbish a lot of old stuff.
Moved 2 old scouts down, but haven’t started them yet.
I use chip clips instead of rubberbands for keeping things together when I can.
I’ve got a ton of options magnetized for the Eldar. The all shuriken load I think is good for a transport that’s going gunning fast into the foe. Although I use a lot of brightlances.
Not that they have seen the table in 9th.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Calling it done. Will grab finished pics at some point later. In addition to my normal painting goals, it qualifies for my paint old stuff goal.
Also started 2 scouts that were left over from the LSS project. Funny poses, but functional. Ish. Anyway, hopefully out of the Pile of Shame soon. Likely never to see the table unless scouts get a MASSIVE revision to their rules. Even then, I’ve got plenty of better looking ones.
Any thoughts on Eldar transfers for the Wave Serpent? There are an awful lot of white ones that would contrast the dark red.
Cheers,
CB
It’s a good question.
My thoughts were “It could really use it, but I’m lazy and don’t feel like doing it right now”. You are correct that they would help a lot. What I need to do is figure out what in my collection could use decals and put them on. I also need to decide if I’m going to give them black lines/chevrons.
But at my current level of energy/motivation, that’s a question that can happen later.
Genestealers are done. Need to glue them into their slotabases, but I need to crack open a new thing of superglue for that. Picked it up, just lazy.
Scouts are getting there. I should really glue the sitting guy to his base, but it would make painting him more irritating. As opposed to me rubbing the paint I put on him off. He’s going to need a lot of touch up work at the end. Next step I think will be the camo. And at some point the guns.
Now that the assembly bench is clean, I need to start building some new stuff. Should probably start on the tank, but getting the back half of a few intercessor squads is also on the to-do list.
Was great to scroll through all the posts to get caught up. I love how you always show the whole progress. Wave Serpent looks ace with the neat black lines. But I do worry about that one Scout, marines should not can-can
Viterbi wrote: Was great to scroll through all the posts to get caught up. I love how you always show the whole progress. Wave Serpent looks ace with the neat black lines. But I do worry about that one Scout, marines should not can-can
He’s got a rock to sit on and a bolter to reload. Not that marines should be resting; always moving on to the next target. He’s part of the LSS project. i run mine empty, so a lot of the guys were in odd poses when I moved them to bases.
So this is happening. The top/back plate for the turret/tank build dryfits nicely, as does the smaller plate for the impulsor. I still might try to make a cover for the top hatch so I can run it as a closed body impulsor, but it’s less of a big deal if I can just hot swap them.
So many fiddly mold lines on those grav plates. Had to stop for a while. Almost at the point where I need to figure out where to put the magnets, and how much I care about swapping.
youwashock wrote: That doesn't look like a real good time. But it will be awesome once it's done!
I don’t know if it’s better or worse than the repulsor. With the big guy each grave plate was separate, in 2 parts. Plus side. Easy to get to all the sides, down side, keeping them all sorted out as to where they go on the tank. Which admittedly they did put some labels on the parts to help. With the Impulsor chassis here the plates are done in strips, 2 par side, one on the front. So less sorting things out, but there are hard to reach mold lines between them.
Both are a PITA, just not sure which is worse/better. But there is no good answer on mold lines, just something we need to endure.
OK, so there are a lot of pointy eared minis in the webway out there. Let’s take a look at how they might be joining my workbench. In order of “eventually" to "Covet"
Warlocks: I like the way the new guys look, but don’t need more. Would like getting some in a bundle, but not going out of my way to grab them.
Guardians: New box of basic troops. I’ve got 30 defenders, so these guys would end up as storms. Which is not a bad thing, as I don’t have any of those. Will need to see their rules, which might bump them up the list. Right now they are hanging with the Warlocks for “would like some, but not enough to get a full priced box” Will happily count them for their value in a bundle though.
Avatar of Khaine: Love the model, will make a great centerpiece. Dose not fit my army theme (getting mud on your boots is for lesser races, mechanized/bike list) Probably going to be over $100 and unlikely to show up in bundle boxes. He’s on my wish list, but there are a lot of things there. Eventually I’ll get and paint one, but don’t hold your breath waiting.
Maugan Ra and the Dark Reapers (Not a death-metal band, honest): I’ve got a few minor quibbles with the models, but generally like them. I can stuff them into the back of a Falcon to keep with my theme. They generally have rules worth fielding, and I want to eventually have at least one squad of each aspects. On the to-buy list before the Avatar, but after the Spears.
Autarch: This guy is odd. I want him, especially for all the parts which I can use to make one on a bike. But if I field one, I’d probably want the wings to keep with my theme (although the spider pack might do) so do I get him and the winged guy and make 2 with all the fun options? Knowing that once I get a bike guy put together, he’s probably going to be guarding the shelf? These guys are not SM Captains where I need all of them. My plan right now is to grab the Omens box, so will probably get one from there. But if we find out about different ways of getting new stuff, or the pricing on that box is stupid, things might change.
Shining Spears: These guys fit my theme in spades. Will probably get a box soonish. The only thing slowing their appearance on the bench are budget issues. If I’m dropping big cash for more minis then I can paint in a year as part of a bundle box, a la carte boxes might get pushed back. Potentially a second box so I can build a new bike autarch is also a real possibility. The fact that I could use 2 boxes also means I don’t have the “Let’s wait to see what’s in the December mega box” worry.
Rangers: These guys get a pass on the “no mud” rule. Having another 5 man squad will help fill out troop slots. Which is important. If I want to start my entire army embarked or on bikes, there is not a lot of space in the transports for guys. The recent WS will help with that, but if I need to fill it with guardians, that leaves less space for things like wraithguard. Especially if the rumors are true and DA are moving to elites. A stick of them in a Falcon was one of my go-to picks to fill slots. Or course, I’ve heard things about rangers moving slots as well, so we’ll see when the codex comes out. Still very cool looking guys and I want them.
Shroud Runners: These guys are just silly awesome. Love them. And the are a tight fit for my theme. Must have. Would not mind multiple squads. The only question is if I paint the bikes red or snow camo.
Not on the list:
Corsairs: We have the pic of one guy. I’m a Craftworld player, not an aeldari soup guy. I don’t have an intrinsic desire to get them from one mini or for theme. I can’t think of a battlefield role they would fill I can’t do with other units that are actually part of my army. That said, if they come out in a good KT box I’m interested in getting, they might show up. If the rest of the squad looks aces, they might show up. If their rules are awesome, they might show up. If the 2 RT guys I’ve got painted in the sky blue armor and yellow tiger stripe helmets of Eldar pirates kick me hard enough in the nostalgia for some brothers in arms, they might show up.
In short: There are a lot of ways they could show up, but I have no plans on getting them.
But overall, I’ve got shiny model syndrome bad right now. Even the stuff that I don’t actively want I’d love to have. I just don’t need them and am not made of money/painting time. So I need to triage them down the list. Right now the line is at the autarch. And only because he’s in the Omens box I’m planning on grabbing. I’ll probably pre-order that and get it when it drops, with the codex and the spears as well. Might wait for those to show up at a decent discount.
Maybe I need to change my Dakka avatar to something with pointy ears. It’s going to be an Eldar year.
I feel you on the "new shiny syndrome". It's ultimately what led to me starting a Sisters army (a decision that I do not regret one bit). The new Aeldari stuff is pretty awesome, but honestly Craftworlds is probably near the bottom of armies I would be interested in playing, so I'm pretty safe from temptation on this one. I do look forward to seeing you tackle the new models though; your enthusiasm should help you do them proud.
Regarding your recently painted Wave Serpent, I think painting black stripes on it (the classic Saim-Hann look) would really improve it. A little masking tape and some black paint and you've immediately made the model that much more interesting, and it wouldn't even be hard or super time consuming. Just my opinion, of course.
ZergSmasher wrote: I feel you on the "new shiny syndrome". It's ultimately what led to me starting a Sisters army (a decision that I do not regret one bit). The new Aeldari stuff is pretty awesome, but honestly Craftworlds is probably near the bottom of armies I would be interested in playing, so I'm pretty safe from temptation on this one. I do look forward to seeing you tackle the new models though; your enthusiasm should help you do them proud.
Regarding your recently painted Wave Serpent, I think painting black stripes on it (the classic Saim-Hann look) would really improve it. A little masking tape and some black paint and you've immediately made the model that much more interesting, and it wouldn't even be hard or super time consuming. Just my opinion, of course.
Eldar have always been my second love. If I was starting out today, I probably would just be playing them primary instead of marines. I’ve got a soft spot for grav armor/bikes and the Falcon and Windriders are great expressions on the theme. Their fragile speed makes for a nice change from the steadfast ruggedness of marines from a playstyle POV. Lack of plastic models was really the big thing holding me back, besides budget and time commitments. And the budget was eased back at the start of this blog when I got the shot of cash from selling the last of my MtG cards. GW just released a whole army worth of plastic space elves. It’s really hard not to just run to the FLGS, slap my credit card on the counter, and shout “Give me all the things!”
I’ve done stripes before on my Eldar, and should go back and do them on everything. And decals. I have the tape. Just bought a roll of thinner stuff when last at the hardware store for just this job. The one complication for the serpents is the shield vanes on the front. need to figure out what to do if I want the line to go that far forward. The cop out answer would just be to keep it on the back half of the tank. That’s a project for when I’m a little more motivated. Kinda being crushed by life right now, so one small thing at a time, and this is not it.
So I finished with the hull. Grav plates not glued, as painting them separate will be a lot easier. Next up is the hatches guns and turrets. Need to figure out what I need to do and magnetize.
Scouts are just about ready for the camo. I put the wash on the faces after this pic. So still need hair/eyes, but getting there. Sitting guy looks a lot better in his natural environment. Need to start their guns at some point. I’d like to have them done before the weekend is over.
Speaking of which, have a great one everybody. Stay safe and warm out there.
Maybe I have watched too much Mandolorian and Book of Bobba Fett, but that seems like the droids sitting around the razorcrest about to get into mischief .
youwashock wrote:Just a couple of guys hanging out in the garage on the weekend. Working on their flying tank. Hope life eases back on the pressure.
Theophony wrote:Maybe I have watched too much Mandolorian and Book of Bobba Fett, but that seems like the droids sitting around the razorcrest about to get into mischief .
Good progress above.
They are unsupervised scouts in the motor pool. Nothing good can come of this.
Gitsplitta wrote:Wonderful to see your line-up of things to be done Nev. Look forward to it!
Looking forward to it myself. With a lot of the Primaris releases, it was more “Huh, that’s a cool kit, little redundant, but I wouldn’t mind having it” There were exceptions, where I coveted the hot new thing, but mostly it was just slowly growing my collection with the new stuff. This new Eldar stuff is actually getting me excited. I’ve been waiting a long time for it, and GW is finally delivering. And they are not reinventing the wheel. Classic aesthetics, modern sculpts. It would be in character for GW to say “I know you wanted the old stuff, but here is something completely new instead”. We get a little of that with the shroud runners, but they are still in character of the army, and don’t feel like a new model shoehorned into the army just to give old players something new to buy. And the Autach with all the options is a breath of fresh air in the modern No Model; No Rules world. It would have been so easy for them to release a mono-pose guy and call it a day. They didn’t.
Once we get release dates and prices I’ll start getting orders in. And then building/painting, which I expect will dominate the second half of the year.
Some progress:
Not pictured is the start on their bolters. Guns are done with the drybrush, need to start on the hands/arms/etc. These guys need their eyes, which I should do once my morning coffee has worn off a bit.
Hatches done, turret progressing. Due to the way it is put together, I think a single magnet sunk into the back of the gun will be what I go with. Tempting to do a pair of side mounts, but getting them placed into the turret would be rough. Not a good way to get a drill into the inside to make the hole, so it would require carving out chunks and building up GS mounts. It would all be hidden, but a lot of work.
Looking at the sponsons I think I can just make 2 sets. One with the MMs, one with some bolter arrays. Sure, there are technically differences between the stombolters and tempest bolters, but from a WYSWYG POV, you see sprays of small arms, and that’s what you get. And I should have the parts to make it in just two sets, without having to have multiple sponsons with multiple gun options to swap around.
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I had a fun thought about the shroud runners. I know I need to be better about putting stripes on things to help break up the color, but how would that work with camo? My idea was to mask off the stripe before doing the tiger stripes, paint the main part, and then reverse the mask to paint the stripe’s camo. So it would look like the camo was offset. Same scheme, just cycling differently. Maybe with the pure white Saim-Han snake over the whole thing. Plenty of time to finalize plans, just wanted to get that thought down in case I forgot later.
Love seeing the progress on the Impulsor. I like the model a lot and found it fun using it in two games or so and dropping a Hellblaster squad out of it. Too bad they missed a lot and that damn robot skeletons got back up Excited to see new Eldar pop up over the course of the year. Friend of mine has a standing Eldar army of 20 years and he's very excited to get new shinies.
It will be interesting to see if it spends more time as a tank or a transport. Depends on the list I guess.
Turret assembled, guns swappable. Still need to add random bits, and get the sponsons together. The limiting factor is the mounting ring. I think I can get them where they are push-fit secure, but part of me wants to sink some magnets just in case. I’ll probably be lazy and pass. They are going to be the storm bolters 90% of the time.
Scouts are just about done and ready for basing. Need to do some touchups now that the guns are on. Hopefully can finish them tonight.
So it looks like the new Eldar/Chaos box is 125 english pound thingies. Not sure what that is is the local coin (people are estimating $200+), but not looking good. This is not a deal on par with the Shadow Spear box where if you were to buy the side you want individually it cost more than the whole box. Sure, it might end up being “buy the Eldar, get the chaos 50% off” but I don’t want/need them. And the ~$50 I save by not getting them is another box of elves. I just need to be patient. Which sucks, as I was looking forward to some retail therapy. Oh well, more time to paint what I’ve got waiting in the wings.
Gladiator is a good kit. Going together pretty easy, not a lot of fiddly problems. Not unreasonably hard to magnetize. Swaps to an impulsor with just a push-fit swap, like a rhino/razor. Would recommend. Of course, I’m a bit biased towards grav tanks, and liked the repulsor. Although it was a bit more finicky to get together.
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So calling these guys done. Zoom photo shows more stuff to do, but the care factor is low on these guys. Should have just left them on the sprue or put them in the LSS. Some of the guys were more salvageable then others, these are pretty forced. Also, while basing them I dumped a tub of flock onto my lap/carpet. I only put a little in the container from the bag at a time, so not a big loss, just a big mess. If I ever have to get more it will be fun to see how well Woodland Scenics color matches over ~3 decades.
Next month will be a TML/HB speeder for the contest and a stick of 5 marines for the painting handles. Probably the back half of the ABR squad, but I also have hellblasters and assault intercessors prepped and ready.
Frankly, I love the guy kicking back on the rock. Flock mishaps are fun. Like when you forget yourself and blow off the excess without aiming away from the tub. Flockstorm.
youwashock wrote: Frankly, I love the guy kicking back on the rock. Flock mishaps are fun. Like when you forget yourself and blow off the excess without aiming away from the tub. Flockstorm.
Heh.
I don’t blow off stray flock. I hold the mini over the tub and tap it off. Sometimes I use an old dry brush to get it off the mini. I do blow loose shavings and dust off minis when cleaning them, and have had issues where other stuff was in the line of fire.
I forgot how irritating the old speeders were. I also need to go back in time and slap younger me for doing such a piss-poor job assembling it. I know they are bad, but no excuses for the way I fit this together. First blue down on it.
I've built 3 of those old speeders. My first was in my Dark Angels Ravenwing Battleforce box from way back when, the other two were cheap eBay scores. Seriously, feth those things. Impossible to get them together without any gaps at all.
Guy on rock has a very spaced out and wistful look, I love it: "See the galaxy they said. Meet interesting xenos they said..."
I could also more often than not slap past me for building stuff badly. Problem is, I still do, as recently as last year So I marvel at your patience with which you are building that Gladiator and it will be great looking and without weird gaps once it's finished. One day I will have such minis too
ZergSmasher wrote:I've built 3 of those old speeders. My first was in my Dark Angels Ravenwing Battleforce box from way back when, the other two were cheap eBay scores. Seriously, feth those things. Impossible to get them together without any gaps at all.
Hopefully this will be the last I have to build.
Viterbi wrote:Guy on rock has a very spaced out and wistful look, I love it: "See the galaxy they said. Meet interesting xenos they said..."
I could also more often than not slap past me for building stuff badly. Problem is, I still do, as recently as last year So I marvel at your patience with which you are building that Gladiator and it will be great looking and without weird gaps once it's finished. One day I will have such minis too
That scout better get his head straight on the bounce, or the sarge is going to rip him a new one. Sitting down, thinking? not in this squad!
I actually went back in the blog and edited a slap to myself for when I called it done. Will be a fun little easter egg is someone is crazy enough to read this monster through from the start.
Gladiator done. Not fully magnetized, but I did stick some in the sponsons to help keep them on. But only 2 of the for side guns are available.
Clipped the back half of the stalker intercessor squad. Nothing too fancy going on there, will start the mold lines and assembly next.
No paint so far today.
I did hit the GW for the free DA. He was badly clipped and is going to need some repair work on his foot. Also Not sure if I want to build him with the parts given. I got the bits for an exarch with a bare head, banner, and a single catapult. I think I’m going to see if I need to build him with different options once the codex drops, or just as another trooper. No rush.
Paint going down. First blues on the ABRs, black on the speeder. Stalker rifles getting built.
No sense of urgency, just plugging away.
Passed on preordering the Eldar when at the FLGS yesterday. Not spending $200 just for 3 kits. Almost did, just for the retail therapy. Somedays I’m too responsible for my own good.
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Got the blacks down on the marines, finished the build on 3 of the new guys, and dusted off and cleaned the mold lines of this little lady:
The month’s theme is "Age Before Beauty” and I was phoning it in with the speeder, as 3rd ed is aged by most standards, and it needs to get done. But a lot of old metal banshees were coming out of the woodwork, and I remembered I had one spare. So a quick pass with the knife and files, and a speedy jaunt into the garage to prime, and here we go. Not sure if I’ll enter both, probably just pick one. We’ll see.
Welcome to the Banshee-off! While re-cleaning mold lines after stripping the ones I'm doing, I was a little surprised at how minor the mold lines were, and how difficult a lot of them were to reach with files.
I think I said this last time I was working on a metal mini, but they do make you appreciate plastic a lot more. My metalworking skills were a bit rusty, but I think I got her mostly presentable. The little gap under her gun arm was a nightmare.
brushcommando wrote: Banshee is coming out really nice. I feel like the contrast paints are a perfect fit for them.
Saves me a lot of work highlighting little fiddly bits. And the semi-organic finish is not out of place for wraithbone armor and psychoplastics.
She’s basically done. Need to wait for the tufts to dry and then it’s flock time. I’ll be more careful with the tin this time. Hopefully. Stalker bolters are getting close to done with their build. Just need to finish the arms and accessories on the AGL brother and they move off to the to-prime box.
On the paint side the intercessor got his handle back from the banshee, so I can get back to work on them. Few more basecoats to go. Speeder is stalled. I need to push on with it.
Hope everyone has a great weekend.
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You’ve come a long way baby.
I’ll get the formal pictures later.
Was hoping to get more done today, but needed to sort out some car problems. Those are mostly all set, but put a wrench in my plans.
Edit2 Needed some retail therapy self care. Went to e-bay and picked up the eldar half. First time on the ‘bay. Hope it works out. If not I’ll just pretend my car needed more than just a new battery.
That Banshee looks marvelous! Do you have problems with primed metal minis and Contrast? I always need to add another coat by hand after the rattle can, because I had some problems when I used it on m preachers the year before last.
And good luck with the eBay purchase! Most people on their are nice and honest. I've bought and sold stuff on there since *looksataccount* 2003 Time really flies.
Thanks guys. Fingers crossed on the ebay. They guy has a lot of transactions with good reports. I could have gone with another who had multiples and 3x the activity, but this guy was also including the instructions. Which would be nice to have for modern kits. Slightly more expensive then just splitting half the box ($120), but includes shipping. Probably less then getting the kits separate in nn months when they release individually.
The only issue with metal over plastic with contrast is that it’s very unforgiving about mold lines. It wants to settle on them, and does. I’m out of habit cleaning up metals, and this gal was bad to start. Should have worked her over harder at the file stage and made sure everything was completely smooth. I use the same primer on everything, and then a basecoat of grey seer. By the time the contrast hits the model it should not mater what is underneath those.
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OK, back half of the stalker bolt rifle squad built. The guy with the pistol out can act as a sarge if they combat squad, but will be painted the same as the rest of the troopers.
One thing not shown in this pic is the AGL guy has a purity seal on his backpack, more noticeable is the studded shoulder pad. In game it’s real hard to tell which guy has the special in the squad, especially the grenade launcher. No glowing plasma coils to help him stand out. So I started doing stuff like this to help ease gameplay.
With the build plate clear I could start another project. Either another stick of marines or some more genestealers. But I got a message that the Eldar should be in the mail Monday, and in theory here later in the week. So I think I’ll keep things clear, work on painting, and maybe clean up the space a bit.
youwashock wrote: Another ebay success story. Can't wait to see how they turn out.
Actually packed better than orders from GW/Amazon.
Clipped the rangers. While there is the issue of certain arms going with certain bodies, the arms all fit to the torso with flat connections. The pairings were more about hoses lining up with the backpacks, supporting arms, etc. But the pistols/scopes/binoculars could probably be swapped around. I might magnetize one guy to be able to take the 2nd floaty disk thing, so I could swap him into my old squad so each 5 man stick can have one.
A bit surprised GW didn’t do their BS rules for some of the modeling options. One guy can be gunslinging 2 pistols, and another can take a blade. Was expecting a “1 in 5 may take a…” type datasheet. Who knows, we might get that in the full codex. Or KT options.
I think every body had an alt build, some just an arm swap (pistol or binocs) but some more substantial (rifle out, or slung with alt stuff). Plus there were plenty of extra heads, and they are the standard type. You could easily make 2 boxes and not feel the dupe with zero work, just with the official alt builds. Go off the instructions and a third box would still feel unique. And that’s without even seeing if there are bits you could poach from the shroudrunners. As there are a lot of spare arms with robe/cloak bits, it might be interesting to see the new warlock kit when it comes out. Might be able to swap a few things around to keep the conclave fresh.
In painting news put the red on the marines. I think they are done with basecoats and ready for the cleanup blue pass. Slopped some more paint on the speeder.
Need to grab banshee pics one of these days. Was also thinking of some new HQ collages. Added a lot since I finished the old matrix.
An example of customization. The guy built is magnetized for the drone. Which is the spare. They give you two disk options but only one of the part sticking down, so I just cut an eldar looking node from my bits box and used it. He’ll normally be holding a pair of binoculars. Nice flat arms make it easy. My main concern was the arms being deep enough to take a 2mm magnet, but they were.
On the guy I’m assembling you can see where the hose from the gun meets with the part near the belt. If I wanted to do something drastically different with this body, I’d have to clean that up
Head just tacked on for now. I want to build them all and then see what feels right. Some of them are more “path of the outcast” than others. Like the topknot I have on now. Mini feels completely different with a hood a/o helmet.
Nice. They look like good minis. If I wasn't already knee-deep in kits, I would be sorely tempted to find a place for them in the Exodite project. Your guy really feels like one of the classic scouts, topknot and all.
Although thematically, it seems they might be the last stop before longfangs. Pondering that, how to wolves do progression with primaris? Instead of switching units, maybe they switch guns? Lots of primaris units have the assault/rapid fire/heavy options for guns. Blood Claws are given an assault bolter/plasma/heavy assault rifle, and use it till they calm down and they get the rapid fire version? I should probably not think about too hard. I suspect they did the same level of work integrating primaris into the other chapters as they did codex marines, which is to say a pretty piss-poor job. Or actually look up the answer. I suspect they fit just fine into a greenwing 
) comes into the room meowing for me and waits till i cross my legs before she hops up onto my lap and curls up for a nap and pets. Terrible creatures with no boundaries what-so-ever 
.
).
Once I finish the ‘Fex I should probably build at least a couple frames of them. And finish painting the ones on deck.
Recipe redacted by order of the Inquisition. 
So I marvel at your patience with which you are building that Gladiator and it will be great looking and without weird gaps once it's finished. One day I will have such minis too 
Time really flies.
