Yeah, I'll clean up the purity seal for sure. Might add one or two more while I'm at it. Don't feel bad about picking holes, that's why I post these! It's all handy, either for this model or future reference, so nitpick away!
Looking awesome Para - seriouslt loving those guys; dirty, gritty, worn....they REALLY look the part. They're been fighting the long war and it shows in every detail. You've got my vote Now go paint some Harlies!! It's a big changeover as I've found painting the Skyweaver lol
I know it goes against the general aesthetic you've got going (grimy, realistic), but bright or glowing eyes (they can be very different things) would add a focal point to their faces. Paint the eye sockets white, then add Nihilakh Oxide, then "re-dot" the middle of the eyes.
Would add some glow and spot colour without being bright and out of character to your models. Check out what Grimdork does with lights on his Infinity models' uniforms to sort of see what I mean.
Azazelx wrote: I know it goes against the general aesthetic you've got going (grimy, realistic), but bright or glowing eyes (they can be very different things) would add a focal point to their faces. Paint the eye sockets white, then add Nihilakh Oxide, then "re-dot" the middle of the eyes.
Would add some glow and spot colour without being bright and out of character to your models. Check out what Grimdork does with lights on his Infinity models' uniforms to sort of see what I mean.
Also, a bit of flock or tufts on those bases!
I think I might try Nihilakh on my Necrons. I never seem to get the spooky glowing eyes right on them..
Three Chaos posts in a row... This is dangerously close to Heresy...
But here we have my next CSM, converted from DV and on a temporary base (as I'm out of 40mms at the moment)
He's without a doubt not as good as the other 3, and the sculpt is a bit too busy for properly building up blends, but he fits in well enough visually. Aside from the base, I'm also considering lopping off his head and replacing it with a more standard CSM helmet (I have a few nice ones left over).
And now, the cannon fodder/sacrificial victims of chaos, the cultists. I went for a limited pallette/Blanche-esque style on these, and I'm pretty happy with the result.
Got a few more of these to come, once I restock on primer. In the mean time, group shots:
Wait, what's that! Oh no, oh god, aaarrrkkkh-
Harlequins Attack!
Yeah, I failed/gave up on doing motley on these guys... Instead, I've gone for zenithal monochrome with minimal spot colours... Or something like that... basically, black and white for the most part.
The keen-eyed among you will notice that one guy is missing, that's because he'd vanished when I sat down to paint yesterday! As and when he turns up, I'll finish him off.
This years challenge is name, "THE TALISMAN". The challenge, is to paint a miniature, as if it were completely (or mostly at least) carved out of a gemstone*. This obviously is not exactly easy to pull off, so its gonna require some buckling down but i believe it will show up some really super cool and creative entries.
If that takes your fancy, head over there and sign up!
That's all for today, cheers for looking! As ever, any thoughts welcome!
The updated title of this thread always makes me think of the song Mambo Number 5...
I think you have knocked it out on the park on the Cultists, that scheme looks great., I especially like the bloodied ball flail on the one cultist.
Harlequins are great too, the cloak on the squad leader looks bad ass, like the whole galaxy rests upon his shoulders. I think I prefer a limited palette on them rather than the explosion in a paint factory look.
Also any luck on the Halo bust yet? I am currently undecided on whether I am going to Salute but if I do I will see if I can pick one up for you if you are stuck in a rut.
I think the cultists, for the minimal effort I put in, came out surprisingly well. The trick to the Blanche style I've found is to just put blobs of red, yellow, brown and grey on your palette and mix everything from there. It keeps a coherent theme and to be to them, especially after you hit them with a wash.
Hadn't thought about that regarding the cape, consider the idea stolen!
Thanks for the offer, but don't worry about it! When I order I'll ask if they have any left, and if I miss out then its not the of the world! Have a good time if you do go!
More Chaos, possibly the last before I start on their opposition/victims!
A CSM, again converted from DV. Just swapped his Power Fist out for a Chainsword, I think it works nicely with the line/momentum in the rest of the pose.
And remaining Cultists. Not quite as pleased as I was with the last lot, but they fit in well enough. All converted as well:
That's it for today! Thanks for looking, and as ever any feedback welcome! Next up will either be the last few CSM models (2 more basic guys and maybe a Sorcerer) or the 'good guys' (as far as that term can be applied to the IOM!), who are a right mix of PDF/Guard, Arbites, Inquisitorial stuff... Oh, and a truck with enough guns to outshoot a Predator Tank! (In the grim darkness of the far future, cop cars have enough firepower to level small towns..)
On a side note, you all need to go and see Age of Ultron. As in, right now! Are you going? Good!
And all that blood lol. looks great though! As others have said, the muted colours work really well. I like it on the harlies as well, makes them look more like assassins and much more dangerous.
These chaos look awesome paradigm! Apologies for not having been through sooner! This style of painting im not very good at..grim dark I guess?...but your choice of dark and ruddy moody colors really makes these guys menacing! It's be a blast to play against this army! Well done sir
@bebop: to be fair, it is the only style I can paint, and frankly takes far less effort than being able to paint more neatly/brightly! A lot of it comes down to trying to make the paintwork look better than it actually is, hence my heavy use of simple techniques and shortcuts that (hopefully) produce something decent!
A little too much heresy and consorting with Xenos filth around here of late, so here I go back to my Imperial roots!
"Stop, in the name of the LAW!"
A pair of Imperial Arbites (space cops/Dredd knockoffs for the unfamiliar), one with a shock maul and the other with shotgun and riot shield, both converted from Warzone plastics:
And their muscle/mascot/walking cover, an Ogryn converted from an Ork Nob. The idea behind his weapon is that as well as being a huge 'hitting stick', he can also 'eject' the tube from the handle as a short range ballistic weapon (eg to punch a hole in a door/wall/heretic), hence the second tube on his back.
And what good are cops without a cop car? But this is 40k, so it's more of a cop tank! Pretty much scratch built on the chassis of a Gorkamorka Trukk, so it's not the most fantastic looking thing out there, I think it still makes a decent objective/terrain feature for small skirmish games. Packing an autocannon in the turret, and twin grenade launchers and a flamer in the front, it's more than ready to purge some heretic!
I still need to drill the barrels, but my pin vice is broken at the moment.
That's all for today, next up will be some PDF troopers or some more CSM. As ever, thanks for looking, any feedback welcome!
The heyday of Necromunda was a little before my time, but it was certainly an inspiration for the look of these guys, so if you drew that connection then mission accomplished!
I considered leaving it, but after a rummage through the backlog I think I've come up with something else for the challenge next month... I just need to decide on how to paint black well...
The heyday of Necromunda was a little before my time, but it was certainly an inspiration for the look of these guys, so if you drew that connection then mission accomplished!
I recently downloaded the whole lot of the Necromunda novels n stories n making my way through them. Some really good reads in there - well rec/mnd them. You've def get them bang on (imho) to the feel of the fluff/books. Great job
Paradigm wrote: I considered leaving it, but after a rummage through the backlog I think I've come up with something else for the challenge next month... I just need to decide on how to paint black well...
Abaddon Black/Chaos Black base, Dark Reaper layer 1, Fenrisian Grey layer 2. Boom. Done. That's how I did the black on my DC dreadnought and DE Talos.
Calibanite Lion wrote: I like the ork/Ogryn as well, I think I'm nicking that idea actually! great stuff.
Oh God, now I'm going to be shown up!
angelofvengeance wrote:
Paradigm wrote: I considered leaving it, but after a rummage through the backlog I think I've come up with something else for the challenge next month... I just need to decide on how to paint black well...
Abaddon Black/Chaos Black base, Dark Reaper layer 1, Fenrisian Grey layer 2. Boom. Done. That's how I did the black on my DC dreadnought and DE Talos.
Thanks. Only problem is that I really don't like the look of black highlighted towards grey. Typically I'll go black to dark blue, but I'm not sure it'll work on the larger surfaces these minis will need.
To be honest Dark Reaper and Fenrisian Grey give a fairly bluish hue to highlights, but you could swap Fenrisian Grey for Thunderhawk Blue for that final highlight. Or just use Abaddon Black with a dry brushing of Etherium Blue followed by an all over wash of Nuln Oil.
I've been trying out diff ways of doing black recently. One I tried and liked was basecoating with mech.standard grey and then lots of glazing with a nuln/ab.bla mix and water brush to vary the tones. The solitaire i painted's overcoat was done that way
That could work, and if that's how you did the Solitaire then I'll definitely be trying it out.
The problem is that I'll be needing to paint large, flat surfaces in black (Ravenwing) and really don't like 'artificial' looking highlights (so hard edge lining is out), but still need them to look interesting. I can do black on Power Armour with its curved surfaces, but I don't think that technique would translate to flat panels on bikes/land speeders very well...
On that note, I have 3 bikes and 1 Speeder to work with, currently all in 'basic' state. However, with a bit of kitbashing I could pretty easily make them Black Knights/Sammael's Speeder respectively. Gaming use of less concern than aesthetics, and I think a bit of extra bling might go a long way to making these guys interesting... Thoughts?
I've done the grey-washed-to-black before, on my corporation marines. Since then, I've switched to just painting them black and edge highlighting similar parts but as that isn't a road you want to take, the washing thing may be something to try.
You could make them super religious and fill in all of the wide black spaces with white purity-steal-style scribblings?
You know it takes a VERY long time to work your way through 22 pages of awesome. But I am very glad that I have done. Your work is top notch Paradigm and I have thoroughly enjoyed the read. Look forward to being around and up to date for your future work.
I love that Cop car conversion, it looks well suited to crashing down walls and running over bad guys, and if any are daft enough to still be concious (or alive) the Arbites can come in and smash their brains out!
Just a couple of minis today. Hayfever has been messing with my eyes the last week, so my detail painting ability has been limited. Looks like it's clearing, though, so I should be able to pick up the pace soon.
Anyway, what I have got done is another Word Bearer. Really nothing fancy on this guy, but he fits in.
And for the Imperium, a Death Cult Assassin. She's a test model for my Challenge entry this month, as a) I didn't fancy painting black en masse, and b) Januine is doing Ravenwing, no way am I going head to head with that inevitable awesomeness!
Not sure quite where that scheme came from, but I like it. With the matt red and the purple armour tint I think it's bright while still subtle, simple without being boring. Might mix it up a little for the rest, but they'll all be mostly like this.
That's all pic-wise, before I go I just wanted to ask if anyone had any experience with the D&D board games; I posted down in the RPG subforum with some questions and would appreciate some answers from anyone in the know. Solo play and nice selection of minis looks like it could be great, but I like to know exactly what I'm buying before taking the plunge! (Except for the Halo game, which I'll new pre-ordering as soon as I have a solid release date! )
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/647528.page
Your conversions on the DV Chosen Marines continue to impress.
Now Death Cult Assassins? That is one aspect of the Imperium that I have zero knowledge of. I like the scheme, nice and muted but it just looks like a Wych to me. That said the wrist blade is one of the coolest weapons visually.
How well are the challenges going? Is it largely to get things painted rather than a true competition? I just have no competitive nature...convince me Para!
Now Death Cult Assassins? That is one aspect of the Imperium that I have zero knowledge of. I like the scheme, nice and muted but it just looks like a Wych to me. That said the wrist blade is one of the coolest weapons visually.
How well are the challenges going? Is it largely to get things painted rather than a true competition? I just have no competitive nature...convince me Para!
Death Cults vary across the Imperium, but basically they believe that the best way to praise the Emperor is to spill blood in his name and slay his enemies. Some will do this Khorne-style, just going bat gak crazy, while others try and turn it into an art form, combining worship and combat. The similarities to Wyches for my own are somewhat unavoidable since I used them as a base for conversion, but fluff wise they are affiliated with my Ordo Xenos Inquisitor; they have therefore been able to see Wyches in action and study their martial techniques, and emulate them as much as possible to perfect their own combat skills. Basically, they are a human cult that styles itself on the wych cults so to be better at BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD EMPEROR!
The challenges are purely for fun and motivation; you enter an unpainted mini or minis, get them painted over the month and receive points for completion. There is a vote at the end in which the top 3 will get bonus points and everyone gets ranked in the League, but no one should take it too seriously! I (naturally) say head over to the thread in P&M and sign up, and the voting thread for last month is still on the front page of threads if you want to see the huge range of minis, skills and techniques on show!
I really like the colors on the Word Bearer, the muted tones with the sharp color contrast from the chainsword work really well.
The Deathcultists are really dynamic. I like the potential of Death Cultists in modelling terms with all the different ways they choose to venerate the Emperor.
Do you have a gaming plan for them (as faithful but ultimately expendable followers of an Inquisitor?)
In 40k, I tend to run the DCA with Crusaders (for a few 3++ saves), a Priest and the Inquisitor, and basically use then as a missile/area denial tool. They're fragile, but if they hit and have right buffs/debuffs active, they can carve up basically anything that they choose to charge. In the best case scenario, they get 4 Power Weapon attacks each, rerolloing hits and Wounds, and the enemy are on -1T from Rad Grenades... Yeah, they hurt! Did o mention that whole unit is just over 200 points?
So aye, they basically are a suicide unit, but one that so far never fails to put the fear of the Emperor into my opponents. Their record as a squad is going though about 25 Kroot and a Riptide in 3 rounds of combat; rest assured my opponent never made that mistake again!
Good explanation on the Death Cults. The thing is there are so many different forums within Dakka that I do not frequent about 90% of them so I miss out on a lot of what goes on. I shall pop over to the P and M thread and have a look.
Now Death Cult Assassins? That is one aspect of the Imperium that I have zero knowledge of. I like the scheme, nice and muted but it just looks like a Wych to me. That said the wrist blade is one of the coolest weapons visually.
How well are the challenges going? Is it largely to get things painted rather than a true competition? I just have no competitive nature...convince me Para!
Death Cults vary across the Imperium, but basically they believe that the best way to praise the Emperor is to spill blood in his name and slay his enemies. Some will do this Khorne-style, just going bat gak crazy, while others try and turn it into an art form, combining worship and combat. The similarities to Wyches for my own are somewhat unavoidable since I used them as a base for conversion, but fluff wise they are affiliated with my Ordo Xenos Inquisitor; they have therefore been able to see Wyches in action and study their martial techniques, and emulate them as much as possible to perfect their own combat skills. Basically, they are a human cult that styles itself on the wych cults so to be better at BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD EMPEROR!
The challenges are purely for fun and motivation; you enter an unpainted mini or minis, get them painted over the month and receive points for completion. There is a vote at the end in which the top 3 will get bonus points and everyone gets ranked in the League, but no one should take it too seriously! I (naturally) say head over to the thread in P&M and sign up, and the voting thread for last month is still on the front page of threads if you want to see the huge range of minis, skills and techniques on show!
Thanks everyone!
What about removing the very obvious DE stuff? Filling in the wicked serrations in the blades, removing the back vents, the chopsticks from the hair, etc... That would go a long way I think
I can see again! I can paint again! I can... Go on complete tangets again! Yep, something completely different today!
It was five years ago this month I got into Warhammer and 40k (it was all LotR before then), and by Christmas that year I had about 3000 points of tragically painted, terribly organised High Elves. Half a year after that, they were boxed up and put away, as getting my friends into 40k ended up far easier than getting them into WFB, and my own interest in building 200-mini armies waned. The Elves had one moment of glory, blasting 96 Skaven with a single spell in the Island of Blood participation game, before they were retired. Since then, all they've done is provide conversion parts...
Until now! While I shan't be rebuilding the army into anything playable (except possibly and eventually for KoW), I am now going to be painting up a few of my favourites from the collection to the best of my ability, just to have some nice display pieces to commemorate 5 years of proper hobbying, and hopefully show how far I've come in that time (look out for some pics of my first painted ones soon if I remember).
First off, as a test for some techniques I intended to use on the others, a White Lion of Chrace, my first try at proper NMM in years. Eventually, he'll be part of a diorama fighting alongside a Swordmaster of Hoeth. Looking at these pics he still needs a bit of work on the face and chainmail, but other than that I'm pretty happy with it.
Any thoughts welcome, of course, especially on the NMM. Next up are a Swordmaster and a mounted Prince, both of which have a fair bit more armour, so if there's any fault in the technique then please do point it out!
It looks good, it's not something I have ever tried so I can't really give you any professional tips but I think personally you might need a stark edge highlight in places?
When I started that I wasn't quite sure what direction I wanted to go in (NMM simulating normal metallics or the more common over a exaggerated NMM that looks like it's painted NMM). In the end, and after doing a couple more, I've decided on the former, so it is a lot more subdued than the NMM you normally see, the idea being that, on first impression at least, it should look like metallics rather than painted NMM. I think the later ones are a tad more successful, at least in achieving the look I was going for.
Think you have done a fine job. Looks pretty convincing.
It does have a more muted look to it. More like armour and weapons that have seen a lot of use and started to get a patina of age rather than nicely polished and shiny.
Thanks guys! Here's some more, and better pics of the Lion. The bases on the WL/SMoH are temporary, both will be on a mini-diorama base eventually.
Swordmaster of Hoeth
White Lion of Chrace updated:
And the Prince, the mini that got me into WFB and finally sporting a paintjob I think I can be proud of (pics are a bit dark, I'll get some better ones tomorrow)
[url=http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/712951-Elves%2C%20High%20Elves%2C%20Non-Metallic%20Metal%2C%20Warhammer%20Fantasy%2C%20Wfb%2C%20White%20Lion.html]
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Funny enough, in still not sure how I feel about NMM. I am pleased that I can finally (hopefully) pull it off convincingly, and on these minis (where I'm trying to emulate the art/imagery rather than something for the tabletop) it fits, but I don't know if it's something I'll pursue further in my 'normal' painting. I'd never do it on LotR or 40k where realism is the goal, and in Infinity I like to keep it very subtle if I do it. I guess it might become a handy tool for more generic fantasy stuff, but I'm not quite convinced it's worth the hassle over just metallics and washes...
Thanks for looking! Any feedback is of course welcome!
Though I've never reached the point where I can do it convincingly (nor tried tooo much), I think I agree about the NMM. It has a place, but I'm not sure its a tool I would be too interested in either, even if I did get it down as well as you.
I do really like it on the elves though, they're quite fancy.
Finished up the diorama before the light went, so here it is! Need a few more touches now it's all together, but I'm pretty pleased with the outcome and overall composition. I was a tad worried about the Reaver (archer) conversion, but painted it fits fine, I think.
Cool, might give that a shot. I tend to use daylight simply as I don't have the space/lamps for a more permanent setup, but I'll certainly try some coloured backgrounds at some point.
Nice looking Elves, Para.
I cant comment on the nmm... But before I realised you had tried it, it registered as gold to my mind. It lacks the shine and polish metals have, but it fits really well with your style, which is dark, muted and gritty.
That White Lion makes the piece for me. He looks legitimately pissed.
Zambro wrote: Nice looking Elves, Para.
I cant comment on the nmm... But before I realised you had tried it, it registered as gold to my mind. It lacks the shine and polish metals have, but it fits really well with your style, which is dark, muted and gritty.
Cheers! I wanted something in between my normal muted metallics and NMM, so if you can't tell the difference at first glance then it seems to have worked!
That White Lion makes the piece for me. He looks legitimately pissed.
Could have something to do with the fact some git took clippers to his chariot for use in another diorama!
So took TP's advice on the blue background for pics, and lo and behold, I think it's worked! Here are the newer pics!
The Prince:
The Defenders of Ulthuan:
And some WIPs of Prince Althran, who will be my entry into the challenge this month. The feathered areas and NMM gold are mostly done, the rest still needs quite a bit of work. Hope to get him finshed for tomorrow, though.
Cheers! The background was just a sheet of 'funky foam' you can get in most craft shops. I figured it was less likely to fold/would bend more uniformly than paper (and it was just the closest suitable material to hand )
Here he is! Prince Althran, astride the Griffon Sableclaw, sowing chaos amidst the Skaven ranks:
Spoilered simply as there a huge amount of pics; I got a bit trigger happy with the camera!
Spoiler:
For my first large-scale attempt at proper NMM, I think I'm calling this one a success! Very pleased with the overall results, I think it was certainly worth the extra work when I look at this compared to what it looked like in its original scheme (which I kind of wish I'd photographed! ).
Cheers for reading, and as ever, any thoughts are welcome! Next up, mini 300 of 2015...
I just painted the white/grey on as normal, googled some pictures of snow leopards, then replicated that pattern. It was mostly stippling, with the spots getting larger/having clear middles towards the back.
Yup, that is an excellent mini diorama you have there. Like everyone else I love the snow leopard griffon, an inspired choice and equally good choices on the particular clanrats as well.
Thanks everyone! I chose the snow leopard and grey eagle scheme in an attempt to emphasise/contrast with the warmer gold armour and purple cape, as in his previous incarnation (gold armour, lion and golden eagle colours) the elf himself tended to get a little lost in a sea of brown/yellow/gold. Glad it worked!
@:Thraxas: plenty of fantasy stuff to come! Not only am I still working on the elves/Skaven, but I also have the Wrath of Ashardalon board game coming soon, so there'll be all kinds of orcs, beasties, cultists and many-tentacled gribbly things on the way... And, of course, plenty of heroes to set about slaying them...
Few more NMM elves today, a command group of Lothern Sea Guard.
Banner:
Musician:
Champion
Not 100% happy with each of them, but I think they come together as a whole well enough. The pics also aren't helping, they've come out rather grainy for some reason.
That's it for today, thanks for reading and as ever, any thoughts welcome! Tomorrow the D&D board game should arrive, so expect more soon!
I cannot see any issues with them myself, the NMM looks great and I really like your colour choices. They truly look like High Elves fit for the End Times.
Are the round bases in preparation for the rumoured "New" Fantasy or have you got plans to use them in some other system. It will be good to see some D and D stuff as my knowledge of that is severely lacking.
I guess the issues are hard to see unless you know where to look; having stared at them a lot over the last few days I notice a few variations in colour or rougher areas that just bug me a bit.
The round bases are there simply as I can't stand square bases! If 9th pans out as a skirmish game then I'll seriously look at properly rebuilding this army, if not then they'll at least look better on display and can used for various other games.
I'm not overly familiar with D&D myself, but the combination of a nice range of minis and solo play rules (and stuff to use with Dungeon Saga when that comes out) got me to pull the trigger on the board game dungeon crawl.
Hey! A lot here since I last checked in. I really like what you've done with the War Griffon and rider. As others have said, the mini-diorama looks great and the fleeing skaven really work well with the implied motion of the mount and rider.
I also like your work on the High Elves. They;'re very effective, and I think the basing texture across the elves works well also.
Nicely done, huge elf fan myself and have heaps of them sitting unpainted in a corner tucked away. Loving the NMM, what made you opt for that as opposed to true metallics or just regular metal paints? Flexing your painting muscles or is it closer to the aesthetic you mentally envisioned?
@ONI: the NMM was done a) just to see if I could, and b) because with these elves I wanted to try and emulate the look of the artwork and imagery that first got me into WFB, things like the Island of Blood box art and various novel/army book covers. NMM just lent itself better to that than metallics, I think.
I'm now in an odd place regarding NMM; in the past I've never really had much time for it, but the more I do huge more I realise that (for this kind of cleaner High Fantasy stuff) it actually works better than normal metallics, as it's easier to create contrast with colour and push the highlights further than I ever could with metallic paint. So while I'm still not 100% in love with it, for certain types of mini I think it will end up becoming a staple part of my arsenal.
In other news, the D&D game will not be arriving as planned, as the both places I've tried to order from decided to tell me on the day it was due to arrive that they don't actually it in stock, despite listing it as such on their websites Very helpful! At this rate, I'm either going to have to order it from yet another place, or wait for the last one to get it in (and they haven't said when they'll do that, Just that they were 'having difficulty' getting it). It looks like it'll be a least a week either way, so I'll have to find something else to paint in the mean time...
I do hope that one of the companies was not W*****d games! That is a bit rubbish, but it does give you a bit more time to clear some stuff from the "to do" pile.
Nah, it wasn't them! one was an Amazon seller, the other was actually the Book Depository, who are typically reliable. And literally as I type this, I've got an email saying they are now posting it first class, so in theory all is now well.. It just annoys no end when stores list stuff as in stock when it isn't; I don't mind waiting, so long as I know I'll be waiting.
Rant over, back to looking forward to more stuff to add to the to do list (which, as it stands, is about 3 feet high... I may have a problem...)
Went for Ashardalon in the end, I think it had the nicest overall selection of minis. I do like a lot of the stuff in Drizzt, not so keen on Ravenloft, and I've yet to see the contents of Temple in any detail. That might end up the second one I get, though.
Just the one today, and the first LotR I've done in a while: Balin, Son of Fundin, Lord of Moria
And Hobbit-Balin vs LotR Balin. In the words of his brother Dwalin, "by my beard, you are shorter and wider than last we met!"
The pics have come out a bit dark, but then he is quite a muted mini compared to my recent WFB stuff. It's a shame that the other LotR Dwarf plastics are pretty poor, as otherwise I'd be doing him a Warband to lead. At some point, I may grab a few more Hobbit dwarves to accompany him, as they are nice (if expensive) minis.
As ever, any thoughts welcome! Cheers for looking!
The LotR Balin has NMM on the armour and axe, and on the gold detail on the cape (though that didn't come out too well). It was an experiment in seeing if I could do NMM without compromising the muted/realistic look I aim for on LotR, and I think it worked. Even when it is more subdued like this, I think I'm able to get better contrast and a cleaner finished with NMM.
And yeah, I do prefer the older mini as well. It may well be less accurate to the dwarf aesthetic the Hobbit set up, but working with the limited material they had at the time I think it's a really nice mini. Sadly, I don't the Damn they released at the same time, and he's now either OOP or Finecast (or both). I do keep an eye on eBay, but no luck yet!
I really like the difference between the two. Almost like an everyday outfit and then the ceremonial armour you would expect a king to wear. Pity it didn't work out for him. I always like Balin. Paint on both sets the tone of each well I feel.
I think for any gaming purposes, LotR and KoW, the older, lordly and axe-swinging Balin will be the one that sees use. Hobbit Balin is nice enough as a character mini, but that film version of him is less badass warrior-king, more Wise-Gandalf-Dwarf.
Yes, after two weeks of postal procrastination, Wrath of Ashardalon turned up on Saturday. Turns out it was worth the wait, as many of the minis are really nice, the components are all good quality, and most importantly, the game itself is good fun, even running solo (although team up games are more fun, it must be said!). I may do a more complete review at some point if there is any interest, but for now, here are the first painted minis from the set.
Unimaginatively, I started with the heroes. First up is the human Cleric, probably my favourite of the hero minis (although he must have some giant blood in him somewhere, as he's a full head taller than anyone else!). Not sure if the face mask is a deliberate feature of the sculpt or just the result of a mould slip, but either way it inspired me to go with a sort of Greco-Roman look on him. His pick was swapped out for a Dark Elf weapon that is just a bit more lethal looking:
Next up is the Elf Paladin. I've seen worse faces on minis, but only because she has no face (and not much of a left hand either), so ib took the easy way out and just painted her lower face covered by a cloth mask.
Next, the Dwarf Fighter, who is among the better ones in terms of detail. Surprisingly bulky for dwarf, what with the bear skin and cape, but still notably shorter than humans.
And lastly the Half-Orc Rogue, who is either evading some attack or just tripping over his own feet.
There is also a Dragonborn (lizardman) mage, but he needed quite a bit of chopping/replacing to get him paintworthy, so he's not done yet.
But what are heroes without something to fight? The first baddies I tackled were the Kobolds, who are absolutely tiny and not overly detailed, but they painted up quickly enough.
Each of the monsters in the game is controlled by an AI card that lists their actions depending on various circumstances, and these nasty buggers' first instinct is to run off and get some mates rather than fight, so you can quickly get overwhelmed if you don't handle them fast. Their leader is also rather hurty, the boss of the first adventure/level.
I've yet to beat him, as this game is pretty fiendish; if the hordes of monsters don't get you, the falling boulders, poisoned traps or pouring lava will. It may, in fact, be the tabletop equivalent of Dark Souls...
That's all for today! Not really on par with my other recent stuff, but they look decent for board game pieces, I think. As ever, any feedback welcome! Thanks for reading!
Oh, and on a side note, I'm putting together a list of Bones minis to expand this set, and have a bit left in the budget, for another half a dozen single minis or a couple of bigger onss. For those that have any Bones (from either KS), are there any real standout minis that look particularly good/are nice sculpts/are just impressive pieces?
And wow, 25 pages! Honestly didn't think I'd get this far when I started out, so thanks to everyone who's chipped in and followed along! You're all a great motivation to me to keep painting, and keep upping my game!
More D&D stuff soon, but as the monsters are all monopose multiples, I'll be posting them in themed groups just things don't get mind-numbing!
5 heroes
7 Villains (the big dragon, a smaller Drake, Duergar Captain, Orc Shaman, Kobold Dragonlord, Small Tentacled Thing, Big Tentacled Thing)
3 of each of the following, all monopose:
On top of that, you get about 200 cards, 40 tiles of various types, rules, dice, tokens by the score.
All in all, a pretty good package if you can get any kind of discount. There is a lot in the box, the rules are fast and fun, there are some really nice minis (only a few horrible ones, even they are salvageable) and the tiles and tokens are all good quality.
And now for some minis! Any monsters can turn up on any level/before any boss, but I felt this selection were nicely themed as a demon-summoning cult and their master.
First, the cultists themselves. Not bad sculpts at all, as far as 'guys in robes' go.
And their demonic masters, the Legion Devils. Dangerous as hell in the game; drawing the card for one summons all 3, and they have a nastily high Attack stat.
And the demonic masters' Demonic Master, Bellax the Gauth. He's got his eyes on you!
And that's a wrap! As ever, any thoughts welcome! Next up will be the Duergar (basically Dark Dwarves as far as I know).
I don't think I'm consciously avoiding the ones you've done! I'm just trying to bash them out in themed groups and get some of the weaker sculpts out of the way. The plan is:
Heroes: done
Kobolds and boss: done
Cultists, Devils and Gauth: done
Duergar and their boss: In Progress
Grell, mouthers and the big tentacled thing
Orcs
Bears, snakes and Drakes
Ashardalon
Somewhere in there will be a dozen or so extra heroes/bosses from Bones, and a Bones Dragon. It's a fair bit to get through, but I'm pretty confident I can reach my self-set goal of doing the set in a month. That should also put me, xwith the Bones as well, very close or past my 365 minis target (and then I may have to do what someone suggested a while back and go for 500 before the end of the year...)
Nah, I just found it a little amusing. I'm only (probably) allowing myself to do mini-beholder guy in the short to medium term, since I'm trying to keep my focus on finishing stuff that's been started with as few exceptions as possible. Otherwise I have the Dark Dwarves, Cultists and Orc Archers already put aside on my paint desk from when I started doing these. Maybe I should put them back in the box for now... hmm...
I've still got the rest of the Ravenloft stuff to finish as well. Got the kobolds out the other day and put them near the front of the queue...
@Januine: they are rather nice minis stylistically, I kind of wish you could get something similar as a proper plastic kit (rather than paintable board game pieces), but I don't know of any. Mantic have Abyssals coming soon, but those are more of a cartoony devil look.
@Red Harvest: no slacking indeed! Should have some more today or tomorrow, as the Duergar are 90% done and the Aberrant group should be pretty fast.
First off is a kitbashed Vampire Lord. My brother wanted a Vampire PC for the game, and he can also pull double duty as a Villain once I get around to writing up some Expansion stuff. I didn't quite get the look I was going for, but he's decent enough.
The Duergar Guard. Decent enough minis actually, you could almost get away with one as a Dwarf PC. Only slightly bad part is the long left arms, but that's tolerable.
And their boss, frankly a bit uninspiring, but mercifully quick to paint.
And the first Abberants, the Gibbering Mouthers. Just blobs with teeth and eyes, so got a simple paintjob. Not pretty, but serviceable:
There should be some more interesting stuff soon, I have a dozen Bones minis in the post for alternative character/villain minis.
Nice work on all of those. For vampire stats, the final boss from Ravenloft is a Vampire. I can probably dig up his stats and PM them to you if you want them?
Az, that would actually be really helpful if your wouldn't mind! No hurry, though!
Automatically Appended Next Post: Some more Alt minis for D&D now:
Dwarf Fighter. An old Citadel, I think, and while the details are a bit rough around the edges and the face is a bit off, he's quite a nice mini. Not ridiculously over proportioned either:
And his Wizard companion. It occurred to me as I primed him that the cut his beard somewhat resembled that of the late, great Terry Pratchett, so naturally he got painted with the robes of Discworld's Unseen University! if my fine detail brush hadn't got a little too fine by now, he'd have got 'wizzard' on his hat as well, but t'was not to be.
And because the Good Guys can't have all the fun, here's an old Orc Shaman. Not the best, but nicer than the one in WoA (which can't decide if it wants to be GW style or D&D, and ends up a mess)
Yeah, I painted a green Orc... This way, though, he remains generic enough to fit with my Mordor army (hence the crude Eye of Sauron on the mask) or any D&D/Warhammer stuff. It was a little soul destroying to go and daub red warpaint all over a finished mini, but I think it adds to it a little. Orcs aren't renowned for artistry, after all.
That's it for today, thanks for reading! Any thoughts welcome!
Oooh yeah! One of the greatest songs in the history of ever! Ahem.
As you might have guessed from that, today we've got the first of my recent haul of Reaper minis. I think I mentioned ages back how great I think Bones is, and my opinion hasn't changed; the insanely low price, good quality and sheer range of stuff available means it's fast becoming one of my favourite mini ranges out there!
First off we have Sir Alain, a pretty classic Knight type.
Trista, the White Wolf. Did a minor conversion here, swapping out her sword for a spear.
Dain Deepaxe, Dwarf Fighter. While he does remind me why I don't lone heroic scale Dwarves (the head hands end up even more exaggerated than normal), there's some nice motion in his pose.
And a Dragonman Warrior. Obviously Reaper don't feel reptilians deserve names.
Group shots:
That's all the 'fighter' types in the package I got. Up next will be the Mage characters, then the Paladin/Cleric sorts and finally the Rogue/Thief ones. There will be a few baddies mixed in there as well.
Lion, it is a really fun game if you just like hacking your way through dungeons populated with various monsters, and gets nicely around the 'no one wants to GM' issue as all the stuff a GM would usually handle is either random (events and layout) or controlled by cards that tell you exactly what to do (monsters). Plenty more info here:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/647528.page
I agree that the D&D board games are good, quick, fun. I have Castle Ravenloft and have had tons of fun with it.
That being said, I haven't painted any of mine. Paradigm, your consistently high output, coupled with high painting standards is very impressive. Nice work.
I find your approach interesting, its quite different from my own. I arranged all of my bones PCs/whatever into parties rather than bunch them up by class.
What group is next? Have you got a batch of rogues and thieves?
I guess I organised them by class is so I can be painting similar stuff over the session. So all the fighters with grey/silver armour get done over one evening, then the mages with lots of fabrics/crystals/robes ect. Next up is the Thieves/Rogues/Assassin types, then the paladin/cleric types.
The end goal, between WoA, this lot of Bones and a few other bits and bobs is to have 3-4 minis for each of the classes in Ashardalon, with most having male/female and Man/Elf/Dwarf options. It gives any prospective/coerced family/friends that end up playing a few more options for their PCs, and a better selection of stuff for when I finish my overhaul/expansion that will add in more RPG and character progression elements than the base game has.
Ah, who am I kidding, 80% of the thought process was just finding excuses to buy and paint these minis!
Thanks guys! Group/action shots will certainly follow once more stuff is done.
Looks like today will be sans pics, as while the Rogues are technically done, I'm not too pleased with them, so it might be back to the drawing board there. Still want to get the Paladins done tonight though, and a combination of a conversion Nev did of an Eviscerator-wielding Captain and the Monsters challenge has me slowly starting on something on the 40k side as well...
Paradigm wrote: Thanks guys! Group/action shots will certainly follow once more stuff is done.
Looks like today will be sans pics, as while the Rogues are technically done, I'm not too pleased with them, so it might be back to the drawing board there. Still want to get the Paladins done tonight though, and a combination of a conversion Nev did of an Eviscerator-wielding Captain and the Monsters challenge has me slowly starting on something on the 40k side as well...
You could always just black wash the rogues a few times. The shadows hide all sins. Love the D&D minis. Makes me want to expand my shelf for PCs for my RPG sessions.
While I do enjoy all the assorted minis you paint up, 40k is alway fun to see. You can always juggle a few projects at once.
Hah, I think washes are the problem! I went for 'Dark and sneaky' and came out with just 'dark' which I would have been fine with a few months back but I'm in a phase of neat and relatively bright stuff right now, and they're bugging me a bit.
Captain Vinciano of the Blood Angels First Company, slain in action aboard the Space Hulk 'Spire's Ascent', 784M37.
The base still a bit of touching up, and I'm umminh and ahhing over whether to add some freehand text/scrollwork or not, but he's as good as done.
He will be a part of my challenge entry this month, and as with the last two, I've set myself a new area to really work on this time. With the Chaos Lord it was the face, with Althran it was NMM, so this time I decided that as all as carrying on both of those, I would work on cleaner highlight blends, focusing on neat layering with nary a wash in sight! I think it's worked out, he does look neater/smoother in person than my other BA commanders.
And here's a WIP of the other half of the entry, the broodlord from Space Hulk. Again I'm going for blending here rather than my normal wash/drybrushes style, for a shinier insectoid look.
That's it for now! I did start the Palkadins so they will show up soon, but I want to get the Beastie done while I'm in the 40k mood. Also another Blood Angel coming, as I painted 2 faces for this guy and didn't want the second to go to waste!
Mostly done on the Broodlord armour now, them I need to work on the flesy areas. I've also put together another BA Marine that might get used in the duo, crawling forward for a desperate last shot.
Yesterday was very productive on the 40k front, here's the fruits of my labour.
First a random Vet Sarge, built basically because I wanted to make use of the other face I painted for the Cap. He might end up in the Assault Squad, or possibly an Honour Guard unit if I build him a few friends. He still needs some Chapter/Squad markings, but in waiting on a new detail brush.
Next we have another Marine cobbled together from parts and a little GS.
Either he'll end up in the diorama or get used as an objective marker ect. I'm pretty happy with the final result considering he's just a mashup of old bits.
The Brooodlord is also mostly done. I almost feel he needs something more, but I'm not sure what. Thoughts?
And now to put all this in context, the start of the diorama. I'm not sure which option I prefer, but I'm leaning towards the first one, as it plays up to power/monstrousness of the Broodlord, and just flows better as a scene. I'll also be adding q back wall to this scene before I call it done.
Option one: Last Man Standing
Option Two: Monster Versus Monster
Any and all thoughts welcome and please do be critical, this will be my challenge entry so I want to make it as good as possible.
@Nev: my trouble with the second one is that thanks to the angles and poses, it's hard to get a good look at the Captain without the BL getting in the way, whereas with the difference in height/size means in the first one you can get good angles on both models.
I am considering doing a combined dio. Round base, the Broodlord reaching down for the injured Marine while the Cap hacks through some Stealers to the rescue. My only problem there is that it might take focus away from the BL, which is a good or bad thing depending on what the viewer thinks of the paintjob!
As compositions go, the first one is amazing. The varied height really pushes the sheer physical and alien menace of the Broodlord.
The second one is just another run of the mill (albeit very well painted) face off diorama. The Broodlord loses a lot of its monstrosity due in part to the massive chainsaw wielding marine.
Therefore, I would go with the first. In regards to whether the Broodlord needs something more? Maybe some viscera dripping from the outstretched hand to add some motion or gravity to him. But that would be a bit picking idea.
Looks fantastic though and absolutely love the color choices.
I'm in agreement with everyone else- 1st pic wins it for me. Kinda looks like the Brood Lord is trying to use his Hive Mind influence to stop the Astartes from shooting him with his plasma pistol.
Thanks for your thoughts, guys! I'm pretty much sold on the first one myself, at least for now. I think there's definitely more of a story in it, and the composition flows better as well ( probably as the dying vet was built with the scene in mind, rather than just a mini fitting in the slot on the base).
angelofvengeance wrote: I.Kinda looks like the Brood Lord is trying to use his Hive Mind influence to stop the Astartes from shooting him with his plasma pistol.
The noise was alien, utterly devoid of sense or reasom, but somehow, Sergeant Montano could still discern the sentiment. The towering beast's thoughts we're all bent on one, single warning: "Don't you fething dare!"
It's actually an upturned 50x100mm Chariot/Monster base, with plasticard over the top (cut to shape so the minis can slot into the recess 'inside' the base.
TP^DC Deputy Manager wrote: First composition is best, but I agree if it could be elongated or widened to have the chainsword dude running to the dying guys aid, that could work
Even if he doesn’t make it into the final composition, we will all know that vengeance will be swift and absolute.
TP^DC Deputy Manager wrote: First composition is best, but I agree if it could be elongated or widened to have the chainsword dude running to the dying guys aid, that could work
Even if he doesn’t make it into the final composition, we will all know that vengeance will be swift and absolute.
True
Paradigm wrote:
angelofvengeance wrote: Let's be honest though Para, that Brood Lord would kill him in the blink of an eye lol.
Hey, it's one of my Marines against a Nid, he's done well to even get the pistol out! I have a very poor on-tabletop record against the bugs!
First off, I've added a removable back wall to the diorama that I need some thoughts on. I've tried to capture the weirdness of 40k a bit, hence you've got a bit of classic sci-fi with the warning lights/slashed walls ect, a bit of Gothic with the marble plinth with skulls and candles, and of course the servo-skull hanging around. My concerns, though, are that it takes focus away from the minis and/or drags the piece down thanks to my thoroughly mediocre scratch build 'skills'. Am I worrying over nothing, or does it look OK?
Next, I decided to give the 'spare' BA from the last post a job in an Honour Guard squad (as in C:SM, not the BA not-Command Squad one), so cobbled together a few mates for him. Obviously one guy still needs the banner adding, I haven't decided whether to risk freehand or just use decals/printouts.
And finally, the aforementioned tangent. After reading Manchu's excellent overview I took a closer look at the Lion Rampant ruleset from Osprey. Initially I was looking for a suitable LotR/WFB substitute for mid-size games, but then decided that while waiting for the Fantasy version coming later this year, I'd bust out some old toy soldiers and do some proper historicals. Simply because of the minis I accrued years ago, I've ended up focusing on the 6-4th Centuries BC, so Greco-Persian war, Alexander the Great, maybe expanding into some Roman/Carthaginian stuff later on. With the minis organised, I set about painting a unit of Persian Archers to get a feel for the scale.
The prettiest they ain't, but for the size and the time it took (about 25 mins per batch of 6) I'm rather pleased with the impression as a unit. Once I grab some more superglue, they'll be getting based on pennies, just for a bit more stability.
On the historicals note, are you guys actually interested in seeing more of them (I've about 120 to do for the first two armies)? I know they might seem very boring to some, so I'm considering just starting a separate thread for my brief foray into that genre. Either way, there won't be any geeking-out going on, add oddly for someone about to start a history degree, I'm not hugely fussed about these minis being 'accurate'. Fear not, you won't be getting 300-line posts on the types of spears used by Hoplites or anything!
Anyway, that's it for today, any thoughts welcome as ever! Thanks for reading!
Looking good, particularly fond of the dirty BA look, they're look significantly more gritty than the normal bright "parade" look and fit in far more with the grimark appeal.
Yeah I like the wall as well, really helps add to the space hulk vibe.
I also like seeing any minis painted no matter what game they are for. I picked up those rules a while ago but havent picked up any minis yet so will be interesting to see where you take it.
@GiraffeX: the rules seem great to me. Nicely generic (they're designed for Mediaeval games, but change a few names and you can really do any period, hence my Ancients stuff) and a very manageable model count (40-60ish, all in units of 6 or 12) that is more 'big skirmish' rather than 'small mass battle'. I'm very much looking forward to trying it out, and eagerly await the Fantasy version coming out soon.
@Carlos: plenty more coming! Got a dozen Persian Spearmen done today, and started on the first Greek unit. I'll be mixing it up between Greeks, Persians, Romans and Germanics for my own sanity as much as anything else, so there should be a nice range coming. I also have a lot of Zvezda Samurai I might get to at some point as well!
I had a bunch of zvezda samurai I got rid off. Nothing wrong with then I just already had samurai in 28mm and a few .in 6mm and didn't need a third scale
Automatically Appended Next Post: Lions rampant rules seem.great. I plan to use the. For mid size.samurai games. So too big for ronin but too small for something like kings of war.
Thats some excellent work on the historicals. Especially after seeing the size of the models.
I don't feel you have anything to worry about with the removable wall taking I Teresa from the models. In fact it has the effect of bringing the eye back to the diorama time and again to see what little bits of interest are around.
One more Blood Angel today, who by the looks of it got a little too hammered at the Annual Sons of Baal reunion party! Or was caught kipping on duty by a couple of Genestealers!
There's actually some really cool details on this guy, I kind of wish you could get a live version!
And for those keeping score, this chap marks my 365th mini for the year! I've completed my goal I set at the start of the year, and surpassed my total painted minis from 2014, so to mark the moment I've gone and got some better shots of my favourite stuff of the year so far.
I struggle to maintain a 1 mini a week goal, including all sorts of funny acounting on how I count bikes/tanks, and you've already blown a 1/day goal out of the water, and it's not even July. Life is not fair.
@Grim: to be fair, there is a lot of less good stuff making up the numbers. 100 or so LotR minis that are pretty average tabletop or below, a whole lot of minis that are good enough but no better. I just picked out the better stuff for that, mostly minis done in the last few months where I have been going for quality a little more than quantity.
If I can finish this historical stuff in any kind of decent timeframe, that will easily add another 100 or so to the score without a ton of effort.
Yeah but the quality is consistently pretty high with some really nice stuff in there too, its an impressive progress, and halfway through the year to boot
The dead terminator from Space Hulk is really well done, and a testament to why the Codex Astartes reaction to a genestealer invasion isnt to sit down and take off your helmet.
Melcavuk wrote: The dead terminator from Space Hulk is really well done, and a testament to why the Codex Astartes reaction to a genestealer invasion isnt to sit down and take off your helmet.
True, I did wonder how/why he took the helmet off and sat down in the middle of a Genestealer attack. Perhaps he was on guard duty.
'An, I'll just take a few minutes off. What's the worst that could-' snikt
And now for something I promised days ago but only got to last night, the last of the Bones minis (for now, more will be ordered soon!
First the Thief/Rogue/Generally Sneaky types. These guys are a little dark, but they do have something of an excuse!
Horsk, Dwarf Ranger:
Deladrin, Dark Elf Assassin.
Arthrand, Elf Ranger:
Not overly happy with any of those, really, but they'll do. Might go back and clean them up at some point. Next, we have a pair of Paladin/Cleric minis. They aren't yet based as I need some more superglue, but the paintwork is done.
A gentleman known only as the Holy Vindicator, seen here in the act of holily vindicating some poor opponent. Possibly my favourite of the bunch, actually.
And Finari, another human Paladin. Again a nice sculpt, apart from the face which almost asks to be painted green and called an alien!
Lastly, another villain, the Ghost King. Really happy with how he's come out, actually!
And while I'm waiting to get some more villains/monsters done before I do action shots, here are some ensemble shots.
Team Dwarf:
Team Elf:
Team Human (my favourite of the bunch)
And finally, the whole team. Avengers Assemble!
There are a few noticeable gaps in the lineup; I certainly need a Rogue for the humans, another Fighter for the Dwarves, a more armoured Elf or two ect. And probably more Knights, because there are some really nice ones in the range!
Finally, a couple of quick shots of some Persian Spearmen I finished up.
That's it for now, thanks for looking! Any thoughts welcome!
I need to set a goal for painting too, but mine will probably be one a week to my tabletop quality. Very inspiring work here.
As for the blood Angels captain in his chair I always thought it was one of the servitors had been corrupted by a genestealer cult and slipped him a Micky. Then Captain Jones started to behave strangely and took a nap.
Those Persians are looking pretty cool. Feel free to post them up in the Historicals sub-forum as well, where they are more likely to be seen by interested parties.
First off today we have some of my favourite Monster minis from Wrath of Ashardalon, the Orcs. These were the guys that first got me looking at the set, and aesthetically I still really like them. Not overly cartoony like GW ones, but certainly very threatening and brutish.
gallery
And to turn around and run off an entirely different direction, grabbing a cheap copy of Sedition Wars on EBay has kicked me firmly back into sci-fi mode. The Grand Plan is to combined that, Mantic stuff and maybe some other odds and ends to create a couple of human and alien-zombie-horde forces, and write up a set or generic/all-inclusive rules for them. While I wait on the new stuff to arrive I've started on a couple more Enforcer teams. I have plenty for Deadzone, but as I'm planning on bigger battles now (platoon+ size, 40-60 minis a side) so I figured I needed a few more basic rifle guys to fill out the squads. Since I'm now being unabashedly lazy with the naming now, here's Agents Blacke, Whyte and Blue.
And because it occurred to me that I'd somehow missed the most obvious reference in two years of painting Enforcers, Sergeant Tommy 'Metal Man' Starque!
That's it for today, I'll be back soon with the remaining orcs, another Enforcer team or two and who knows what else?
@Manchu: cheers for the heads up, I'll be sure to post them down there when the armies are a little more complete!
In the mean time, thanks for looking, any thoughts welcome!
Sedition Wars arrived! Caught me a bit unawares as I wasn't expecting it until next week, but I wasted no time in getting cracking with building and doing some test painting.
First off the Vanguard. While the poses are limited (1 male, 1 female, 1 male heavy, 1 female heavy), these guys are actually very nice aesthetically, and the detail is awesome. As with everything else in the set, they also come with plastic scenic bases, which are a godsend for lazy basers like me.
And the other half of the box, the Strain. These guys will be joining my Deadzone Plague on the tabletop, so get a similar scheme. In addition to the mutation these guys have lots of wires/implants/techy stuff, so fluff wise in the Manticverse they'll be Plague victims who thought 'upgrading' themselves could stop the infection... They were wrong...
All in all, I'm damn pleased with the set, and actually struggling to work out why this game never really took off post-KS. I hear there were some issues with the rules (which I haven't looked at yet), but the minis/boards are all top notch. I know restic might have put people off, but if the Vanguard and Strain minis were available separately I have a feeling they'd do very well. Nice sculpts, great (and underused) aesthetic, the bases are just the icing on the cake.
To go with these guys I have a few more Enforcers, Agents Ultra, Quoth, Wolfe and Angel:
No prizes for guessing the references, these are too obvious!
And lastly, on a completely different note, a Warhammer World exclusive Josef Bugman. Very fun mini this,
That's all for today! I'm aware the blog has been a bit all over the place in the last few posts, but in theory I'll be a bit more focused now. Aside from the few D&D minis I have yet to do, it'll mostly be Deadzone/SedWars stuff, as the BA are basically done and the Historical side project is on hold until I get more Agrax.
Great stuff. I'm struck by how similar our painting tables are, minus your Sci Fi stuff (though I do have some 40K chaos and a set of Space Hulk of my own laying around).
I'm sure with what I paint (or at least start painting ) there's some similarities with almost anyone, but yeah, I've seen you mention things here and there and thought 'snap' now and then!
Great work on the sedition wars figures. I've got four sets of the figures and three of the tiles, got them all dirt cheap from miniaturemarket.com or from ebay (to grab some of the KS exclusives). If I ever got back into 40K I'd use the strain guys as chaos demons/ cultists for my iron warriors. The bigger ones I'd use as maulers or obliterators infected with the techno virus.
Bug mans awesome. Love to get one for use with my dwarves bloodbowl team..
I'm pretty sure if I could get SW at the prices you guys get across the pond I'd have at least one more set. It's taken me 2 years to find it even close to that over here!
Got another Bugman to do soon, who will be in full axe-wielding mode and rolling with my Reaper/classic Citadel shorties.
Wow. Thanks for testing my future samaritan/vanguard scheme out for me, looks good I was considering doing them black to match the armor scheme for my corporation troops, but now I'm really torn to paint them white to match my enforcers... Awesome work either way.
I see you inundated your strain with gore as well.. great minds and all that...
I like the enforcers, you should do a group shot of the whole motley crew.
That bugman model is hilarious, spilled me ale! Wench, get the healer... he's going to NEED it!
I was planning to go for black armour with the Vanguard, but in the end (largely thanks to Star Wars) I decided a clean white was the way to go for sci-fi troops. I'll be doing the same with the Mantic Corporation troopers once these guys are done. Then I'll grab some shots of all my Corp/Vanguard/Enforcer stuff together, hopefully coherently. If I get another set at some point, I'm definitely going to be doing some spec-ops Vanguard in black armour.
The Strain just got the same treatment as my Plague, and the gore just adds another colour to an otherwise quite bland scheme.
Yeah, part of why my own strain and plague got the gore too.
Hmm... I do like white on scifi troops, though my corporation guys are already 50/50 with black armor plates. Ehh, different corporations they can look a bit different. Would let me use my storm troopers with the whole lot too
I might be biased, but I love what you did with Josef. I had forgotten all the detail on that little guy, and you really brought it out! I never thought I'd write this, but I also love the spilled beer.
Januine wrote: loving that Bugman fig - superb!! where'd you get him?
Lots done but it's all a bit samey, so I've tried to spice it up a bit with some more scenic shots on the really nice SW tiles below. ('Scuse the unpainted base rims, I'm trying to save the black I have left for basecoating)
First, though, the characters.
The captain:
The sniper, who oddly looks much better from the back:
The engineer:
And the guy with a big gun and am exo-suit thingy.
A few squad shots:
And some pre-action shots:
And lastly next next batch of Strain, with some DZ Plague mixed in:
That's it, apologies that it's basically more of the same! Some different stuff will be coming soon!
I was going to post in their thread that they need to increase the model count of what they send the winners so there might be a chance of assembling one not miscast item.......but the competition is already over
I had heard about their casting problems, which is why I've not bought from them in the past, but I've seen a lot of reviews saying it's improved since then. If these free minis are decent casts, though, I'll certainly grab a few of their others from the range.
Bloody hell, Para!
I've been looking in, but not commenting for the past couple of weeks, because whenever I get back to try and do so, there's another page of posts and another two dozen painted figures on top. Your output is both impressive and hard to keep track of!
Congrats on the Puppetswar win as well. I just read through that thread to see what was up. Please take lots of photos of the figures as they arrive, before any clean-up or paint. Then of course, I can blink and you'll have painted them all.
Blimey, I have a few weeks away and you go mental. Well done on the 400 + minis Para that is some going.
The Space Hulk and Sedition Wars stuff looks great. How did you find the SW miniatures? I know they got a lot of stick upon release (mainly scale/material?) but what you have done with them makes them look really good. The Mantic/SW aesthetic works well together too, for both factions.
Put some more historicals up as well, the more miniatures the better.
@Az: I'll definitely do a review of the PW stuff when it gets here.
@ToT: Honestly I love the SedWars stuff! Admittedly I've been buying Restic since Mantic started using it and never had a problem with it, but these were no worse than any of the Deadzone stuff. They're a little more truescale than the DZ minis (most noticeable with the Plague, the Enforcers get away with it by being superhuman anyway). The big minis are really nice as well. If you're looking for a bunch of sci-fi minis and some nice tiles (they'd probably work for Execution Force easily enough) and can get a good price, I'd definitely say it's worth it!
Been a slow couple of weeks; lack of paint, hectic real life and illness have kept me away from the deck, but I got back to it today. I'm still a bit burnt out on the SedWars stuff after doing half the set in a couple of days, so I figured I'd change tack and start afresh with something new. After a few test games of Age of Sigmar, the new Warhammer, I decided this chap deserved a new paintjob. There has to be some reward for cutting the head from an Elf Prince, after all!
Apologies for the lack of a front-on shot, the forward-leaning pose and extended arm mean that getting a shot of the chest/legs that's both lit and focused is damn difficult. I'll try again tomorrow, in the mean time I hope you can get the general idea. He's not perfect, but I'm happy enough with him, and it's better than the paintjob he's had for the last 5 years!
Got his Warlock Engineer on deck next, should be done for tomorrow, after that I'll have to see what's already primed and doesn't require Agrax (how do you paint without it? ) as supply of both is low.
Thraxas Of Turai wrote: He took out an Elf Prince? I think that shows that we have to clear our minds of what we once knew about Warhammer Fantasy.
I know, I was just as shocked! The prince ran into some Clanrats and took out a few for no damage in return, then the Warlord charged in. The key thing is that you now attack with all of a model's weapons rather than picking one, so he got 5 swings with the Halberd and 3 with the hatchet. It took him two rounds to finally win, and it was only his 'scurry away' ability that kept him alive (free 'retreat' after each combat, so the Prince could only hit the Clanrats), but still, pretty sure that would've gone the other way in 8th!
Skaven - always had a lot of love for the wee ratties. kept meaning to pick up some to paint at some stage......really should. Lovely job you've done on him Para
The warpstone blades are one of the few style elements I kept from the original paintjob, this iteration was just a green base, dark green ink wash for the gloss look and stippled lighter green for the contrast. I plan something similar, if more like marble, on my Sigmarine shoulder pads when I get them.
I thought you took ridiculously larger units of them now? But that does seem to be the way of things... character, bucket of rats, character, bucket of rats...
Now for something else, the start of my entry to this month's challenge. Had to really rack my brains to find something suitable, and then a quote from LotR leapt out from the back of my mind. 'Smeagol shows them secret ways, that nobody else could find, and they say sneak!' A trip to the bits box later and I'd fished out the makings of a Gollum-themed diorama
The plan is to recreate the 'Forbidden Pool' scene from TTT, possibly playing with some water and moonlight effects along the way. To see if I could do a good enough job, I've done up a test Gollum, and I'm pretty happy with the results on what is really quite a mini mini!
That's a standard 28mm mini on the left. A retro Warrior of Chaos, in fact, which I also painted yesterday. Here he is with a few mates (who I didn't realise were all the same pose until I got to painting!)
And a boss for them, again an old Citadel (I think).
That's all for today, any thoughts welcome! Thanks for reading!
Thanks! The look on the warriors was something of an accident actually, but I think it's come out well enough (I'm particularly pleased with the Lord). I initially set out to do them as tests for the AoS Khorne stuff, but I can't see this look working on them, so I might just resort to the studio scheme there (but less garish).
I think that Gollum may be the best painted mini that we have seen from you yet. The skin, and especially the eyes look excellent. Even more impressive given the scale of the model. Am really looking forward to seeing the diorama now.
Thanks guys! That's high praise, Thraxas, hope this second Gollum lives up to the first! (Scuse the fingers in some pics, he's hard to photograph flat)
And finally, a WIP of Frodo. Sadly, as one of the earlier LotR sculpts, any resemblance to actors in the films are entirely coincidental! (Although I don't expect a real likeness on a 28mm Hobbit, even from the Perry's! )
That's it for now, thanks for looking! Any thoughts welcome!
On a side note, Arkham Knight has me seriously considering diverting my AoS funds into Knight Models' Batman range. I'd end up with less minis, but they are stunning models and the game looks fun. Thoughts?
This is progressing well, cannot wait to see the finished article.
The thing is with AOS unless you are planning a Stormcast Eternal or Khorne army there is no need for the boxed set as you can pick up the rules anywhere.
What could/would you get from Knight Models' for your £75 (or FLGS equivalent)?
I think of the various ranges I like the Dark Knight Rises miniatures best.
I bet if you compared those CW models to the Age of Sigmar stuff those guys would be eaten for breakfast lol. The Blood Warriors in the Goretide are pretty badass!
@Thraxas: good point. I do like the minis in AoS, but with how rarely I get to actually play and the fact I don't fancy painting whole armies these days, I think I might be better off getting less but more unique/detailed minis (the fact they're Batman helps too! ) For the same price as AoS, I can get the core of two full gangs:
Batman (probably the new Arkham Knight version), Gordon and some SWAT cops vs Ras Al'Ghul (Liam Neeson version from Batman Begins), some League of Shadows Ninjas and either Thalia (Arkham), Nyssa (Arrow) or DKR Bane. Maybe a couple of extra characters
It's not a ton, but the game itself has a lower model count even then Malifaux so that's actually two full teams. In theory, while the startup cost is higher, expanding should be a little more manageable over time; just adding a character or couple of goons each month adds plenty of options for both playing and painting. Add in the fact that most characters can act as mercs in most teams, and expanding in new directions is easy enough.
The only problem is knowing where to stop... I want a Joker crew... And Arrow... And maybe Two-face... And of course the entire Bat-family... And then the Marvel stuff, for inevitable Daredevil vs Batman vs Punisher vs Deathstroke games... Yeah, I can see this becoming quite addictive! I'm pretty much sold on it to be honest, BoW have a few unboxings that really show off the minis.
Aye - that Gollum you did is bloody perfect. You've managed to actually capture the nature of the character not just 'paint a fig'. Absolutely top notch Para. Any of you folk pick up a copy of the AoS boxed set? The sculpts are lovely (esp the Khorne fellas) - kinda tempted to get one but to paint in a waaayyyy less clean and gleamy style. All the ons I've seen so far look a bit like they're about to take to a Parisian catwalk (imho )
Thanks Januine! To be honest so much of it is the sculpt; I know I harp on about the LotR line's attention to detail a lot, but they really are unsurpassed in that area. The pose, the detailing, the whole feel of the mini does wonders for getting them 'right' as a painter.
Angelofvengeance and Thraxas are definitely working on AoS, plenty in their blogs! I'd like to see your more gritty take on it, and you can never have too many projects!
Anyway, today we have some Knights. Couldn't tell you who made them, or when (80s at a guess), but I found these in a box the other day and decided they ought to have a lick of paint.
Knight Number One. This guy has aged really nicely; I'd happily buy this sculpt from Reaper or the like today! I think I've also finally cracked NMM silver/steel here, at least to the point it isn't noticeably worse than the gold.
Knight Number 2.
Knight Number 3:
All Together Now:
Finally another LotRWIP, the first Ranger. Nice sculpts, but oddly I've never really got them to 'work', hopefully this is good enough. Ignore the glare on his face, not sure what's going on there!
That's all folks! Any thoughts welcome as ever, thank you and good knight (sorry, had to be done! )
Been a while since I have checked your blog out. Looking great as usual. You find the most interesting models to paint. Have you ever done Mantic stuff? I checked them out the other day. Stuff looks pretty cool.
@Archer: ostensibly these are Fantasy minis, I think, but I agree they could certainly fit as historical minis if you don't look too closely. At some point I might supplement them with some Perry Knights/Sergeants to form a nice multi-purpose band of questers.
Anyway, here's my submission, Gorgutz Da Slica, armed with a 'Squig's Foot' shoota and a Kustom 'Kut-more' (as opposed to a Kutless, geddit? )
The first time I've painted a Goff-style Ork, the only others I've done were some Bad Moons a few years back. I'm pretty happy with it, though, I've got the mean and rough look I was going for.
Time to paint a couple of Boyz to accompany him! If you fancy painting an Ork or two then why not head over to the thread and sign up, there's still plenty of Boys and a Nob or two up for grabs!
That's it for now, thanks for looking! Any thoughts welcome!
Very nice NMM on the Knightly guys, and the Ork looks great as well.
Best of luck with the commission stuff. The best advice I can give you is start small, be careful not to over-extend yourself, and get a deposit upfront, and the rest (at least half) on completion.
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There will be shortcuts, compromises or half-measures in the painting process; if you want it done and I can do it, it will be done.
Thanks for the advice; I think there will be a bit of a learning curve as I iron out kinks in the site and the process, but hopefully I can keep it going on a small scale, just to do what I love and earn a bit of extra cash to channel directly back into the hobby budget.
Commissions? Brave man. Good luck with any business that comes your way. I guess it is also a nice way to paint models that you otherwise may not buy, or for different game systems.
Something different again today. It occurred to me earlier that quite a few minis I have in the paint queue require quite a lot of black, and with that in mind, I put together this piece with the aim of testing as many different ways of doing black as possible. In total I managed to get about 5 methods in there between the two models, and some good contrast between them.
I also tried out a jungle base here, as I need them for an upcoming commission, and I'm pretty happy for a first attempt.
I should thank Januine for tips on the various black's, and also Talys for some photography tips that hopefully make these pics better! Cheers guys!
That's it for today, thanks for looking! Let me know what you think!
@Januine: your tips certainly came in useful. I used the glazing method over blue and grey on the Wych, and the reverse on the cultist, and it actually gave a surprising contrast between the two styles which is what set out to achieve.
I forgot to take a Proof, but I might ask if anyone minds me entering it anyway, as I'm not getting on with the LotR Rangers to be honest. If not, it'll probably just be Gollum, unless my Batman stuff turns up in record time and gets painted even faster (unlikely, I don't want to rush them).
That is a fantastic diorama from such simple pieces. The dynamic you have achieved is terrific. You have such a good eye for the placement and relationship between the models as seen by the menace posed by the Broodlord previously to this latest frozen moment in time catching the elegance and precision of the Wych (please tell me I am right that it is a Wych?)
@Archer: yep, she's a wych! I didn't actually need to do much to get this pose, I just nicked a spare open hand from the Harlequin set and turned the model 'sideways', using the chain and hair to suggest the speed and motion.
Knocked together a simple diorama base, keeping the jungle theme. It ain't perfect, but I think it does frame the minis quite nicely!
Few more pics in the gallery, but most of them are just slightly different versions of yesterday's stuff.
Today we have Infinity's Joan of Arc, which I grabbed with the Angel Giraldez Masterclass book for 1/3 of the normal price as Wayland's deal of the day last week. The book itself is great, very nicely set out and full of awesome photos and step-by-steps, but the accompanying mini outshines it in my opinion. It's a cracking sculpt, great posing and full of character. Infinity stuff is always a treat to work on, but this was fun even by those standards, one of the nicest minis I've worked on in ages.
The base is a freehand attempt to mimic the scenic base on Joan from the paint guide. I'm pretty happy with how it's come out, but I might revisit the Fleur-de-Lys symbol.
As for what's next, my Puppetswar prizes arrived today as well. A selection of alien nastys that are pretty damn awesome! The plan with these guys is to use them as a counts-as Plague list in Deadzone, with a S1, Terraton and a bunch of S3s.
Pretty cool minis, actually. I'm not sure on the scheme yet, but it'll be something natural-looking, as I want them to actually resemble real insects rather than just be generic aliens. I'm thinking of going for a glossy, bright look on the 'shells'/carapaces, as you'd find on poisonous bugs, but I'm not sure how well that'll work. Any ideas are welcome.
After that I should have my first couple of commissions coming in towards the end of the week/early next week (some Space Marine characters and Mercs KemVar, who I'm very much looking forward to tackling) and then, if all goes to plan, BATMAN!
That's all for today, though. Thanks for looking, any thoughts welcome!
Nice work, Para. Great work on the Wych-Cultists. Nice and dynamic, and I like the black work you did there. That Joan has come up well also - looks like she might also work well in Rogue Trader, etc, or in an Inquisitorial warband.
The Puppetswar stuff looks good as well. Though the cynic in me thinks of course a prize winner would get good castings. Still, can't wait to see what you do with them.
@GiraffeX: to be fair, I still didn't have the guts to go for the proper white cross she's supposed to have on the tabard, even with the guide on hand. The single stripe was just an attempt to tie it in to the shoulder pad and add a bit of contrast while keeping it simple.
I do like the yellow/black idea, maybe mixed in with something cockroach-like for the non-shell parts. There was an epic Nid army in WD a few years ago which had glossy black carapace with bright yellow Rorsarch Spots/ink blot patterns, which basically looked like evolotion-ese for 'don't feth with me, I'll kill you!'.
Might try and copy that, once I can actually get the primer to stick; three washes and there still seems to be some release agent hanging around.
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Very helpful! At this rate, I'm either going to have to order it from yet another place, or wait for the last one to get it in (and they haven't said when they'll do that, Just that they were 'having difficulty' getting it). It looks like it'll be a least a week either way, so I'll have to find something else to paint in the mean time...
I need to set a goal for painting too, but mine will probably be one a week to my tabletop quality. Very inspiring work here.
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