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The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/01/05 15:57:43


Post by: Polonius


Welcome to my blog! below are links to various topics, or you can start at the top and read through my meandering hobby interests

Praetorian Astra Militarum: https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/150/675393.page#9391918
Rehabbed Ultramarines: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/60/675393.page#8708059
30k Emperor's Children: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/60/675393.page#8621501
Bolt Action Germans: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/30/675393.page#8403264
Mantic Ogres (Kings of War): Start here!




Hello Dakka!

Welcome to my hobby blog. I'm taking advantage of the New Year to begin a hobby blog here. For the past year, I've been doing a blog in the DCM forum, and I found that the feedback and support was very helpful in completing goals. Further, documenting paint schemes and techniques helps a lot when adding models to an older project.

I chose the title Casual Painter to make it clear that I'm not going to be sharing pro-quality work, nor will I be experimenting with advanced techniques. I proudly put out tabletop quality models, and I believe that in painting, quantity has a quality all its own. I'm open to suggestions, and I have no problem with critique, but there are a lot of times when I simply feel that a model or unit is good enough, and I move on.

My goals for 2016 are pretty simple: complete three different projects. My Mantic Ogres are the first and largest, with two complete mega armies from the Kickstarter being painted. After that will be Bolt Action Germans, with essentially a full army on my table waiting to join the rest of their comrades. Finally, I have about a dozen Cygnar models that are all I need to complete my collection. After that... well, let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Below are some teaser pics on those projects. More detail to follow!

Kings of War Ogre Kickstarter part one:



Bolt Action Panzer grenadiers built and primed:



And the world's saddest Cygnar Battlegroup:






The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/01/07 22:21:29


Post by: Polonius


Let's start with some WIP shots of the Ogres from the Mega Armies. I tackled the Berserker Braves first, and I was interested to see how Mantic handles While the sculpts are nicely detailed, the flash was crazy, almost amateurish:



The Warlock is a really nice sculpt. I'd hear rumors that this was an old model that went unreleased until the kickstarter. If that's true, it's a shame. Ogres don't really need a Warlock in KOW, but it was such a small range I'd have picked one up.



The braves themselves are quite beefy, and look quite rustic compared to the more military Warriors. They were a bit tricky to rank up, but looked really fun to paint:



For the paint scheme I wanted to show that they are part of the Ogre community, but not part of the formal military structure. They have a lot of runes and feathers, and I painted them all green, with the idea of highlighting up to a glowing, arcane green. I painted their hair blue at first, to match the rank and file Ogres, but I later painted it black, figuring that the blue was the mark of the structured military. Awful flash issues aside, the braves are among the nicest models Mantic has ever put out.





The base coast is Reaper Master Series Dark Skin Shadow for the skin, RMS Splattered Crimson for the cloth, Vallejo Game Color Gunmetal for the metal, DeltaCeramcote Trail Tan for teeth and nails, and a dark brown for leather and ropes. I gave them a heavy wash of Secret Weapon Heavy Body black.

Next was the first highlight layer. This is Dark Skin, Gory red, RMS Oiled leather on the straps, RMS Creamy Ivory on the teeth, and RMS Pale green on the arcane gadgets.



Next, I washed the leather straps with a Brown wash, and applied a final highlight of Dark Skin Highlight, Fresh Blood, Alien Goo on the arcane stuff, and a final touch of Gunmetal to re-highlight or pick out clasps.





The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/01/07 23:20:27


Post by: Azazelx


Cool stuff, Polonius. I'm a big fan of the Ogre army in KoW, and it's cool to see you posting your stuff here.

What else do you plan to add to the Ogre force? Are you planning to add anything else to their bases?


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/01/07 23:41:41


Post by: Polonius


 Azazelx wrote:
Cool stuff, Polonius. I'm a big fan of the Ogre army in KoW, and it's cool to see you posting your stuff here.


Thanks! I wanted to play KoW, and doing the math buying into Ogres was the cheapest by far. I was able to build a decent army in First edition for about $150, all bare restic. Of course, I've spent well beyond that by now, but isn't that how it usually goes?

What else do you plan to add to the Ogre force? Are you planning to add anything else to their bases?


This was the army in First Edition:



So far, I have 40 Scouts, 18 Warriors with Shields, 6 Warriors with two handed weapons, and a few characters.

All I do to the bases after highlighting up the gravel is add a little flock:





The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/01/10 17:39:22


Post by: Polonius


I took a Reaper Bones Storm Giant from the first kickstarter, mounted him on a 50mm base, and I'm painting him up as a monster. He's getting the same basic paint scheme, although with black hair instead of blue, to tie him into the more feral aspect of the Ogres.

A few pics post wash:





Ready for Dull Cote:





The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/01/12 12:33:07


Post by: Polonius


Wave one of the Ogres is fully complete!

Braves:



Shooter Horde #1:



Shooter Horde #2:



Shooter Horde #3:



Boomer Horde:



Giant:



I'm pretty happy with how they turned out, and I'm already looking at a wave 2!



The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/01/12 17:37:57


Post by: Da Boss


Your guys look really nice. I really like the combination of gritty colours and battered armour with the bright spot colours you use for hair and so on.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/01/12 19:01:40


Post by: Polonius


 Da Boss wrote:
Your guys look really nice. I really like the combination of gritty colours and battered armour with the bright spot colours you use for hair and so on.


Thanks! I'm very happy with my regimental markings on my Warriors with shields, but I'm less enthusiastic about the overly bright shoulderpads on the boomers. The Shooters I just used the rivets on their hand to mark regiments. I might play with it to make it less 5th edition Warhammer.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/01/17 20:17:59


Post by: Polonius


Ogres Wave 2 is on the horizon. A horde of warriors with two handed weapon, a horde of boomers, and two warlocks. Compared to the 28 ogres of the last round, this should be cake, right?



I got some time this weekend to put on a base coat. Here they are with a few colors:










The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/01/18 16:23:13


Post by: Polonius


To get an idea of how strong a wash I put on my Ogres, here are some sample figs just prior to washing:



And here are the boomers, warriors, and Shamans after the wash had a chance to dry:







Making a slight detour, I did some more work assembling the Ogre Chariots I got in my Mega armies:



These kits go past "Mantic... Almost" to new heights of barely there. The kit is just the Restic Orc chariot, plus an ogre. This means the arm that holds the reins is scaled for orcs, not ogres, making conversion required. Further, the models require extensive gap filling to even go together, and refuse to rank up. I hope when fully assembled they at least look cool, but as a kit, they're pretty disappointing.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/01/18 16:41:58


Post by: Theophony


Great work on the Ogres. Love the skin tone with the blue hair.

Mantics chariots really leave a lot to be desired.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/01/18 23:29:20


Post by: Azazelx


Nice work. You're going to have a nice sized Ogre army when it's all said and done!

RE the chariots, I agree that they're not very good and are a half-arsed solution to giving Ogres Chariots. They're also a good example of the new rules taking precedence over the models. I still maintain that unit sizes of 3-6 is ridiculous when they could have gone 2-4-6 or even 2-3-4-6 to not potentially invalidate people's multibased sets of 3. Going from a minimum of 1 to 3 to stop spam is the far side of overcompensating, though.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/01/19 19:18:09


Post by: GrimDork


These are some nice ogres, kinda want to paint up my small batch from the crazy box now


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/01/19 19:31:42


Post by: Polonius


 Azazelx wrote:
Nice work. You're going to have a nice sized Ogre army when it's all said and done!


I added it up, and all in it'll be close to 4000 points, which is pretty massive in Kings of War. When I get everything painted up, I'll take a group shot.

RE the chariots, I agree that they're not very good and are a half-arsed solution to giving Ogres Chariots. They're also a good example of the new rules taking precedence over the models. I still maintain that unit sizes of 3-6 is ridiculous when they could have gone 2-4-6 or even 2-3-4-6 to not potentially invalidate people's multibased sets of 3. Going from a minimum of 1 to 3 to stop spam is the far side of overcompensating, though.


I don't like Chariot hordes in general. The footprint is massive, and ranking becomes a huge issue. I agree that there were some problems with spamming individual large models in version one, but the new rules limiting troops help with that. We'll never see one model troops of large infantry again (I think a lot of the characters were meant to be that), but one model chariots wouldn't be too bad.

And I know that you can take a character in chariot, but that's very spendy. A captain in Chariot is 150points, while a regiment of chariots is only 170points, although the captain is inspiring with one higher Nerve and Crushing Strength. The regiment has 12 attacks compared to 5 on the captain though. Would a 4 attack, 11/13 chariot for like 75 points really have ruined things?


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/01/21 04:15:56


Post by: Azazelx


I agree with you on all counts regarding the chariots and the "fixes" to them. I'd love to figure out a decent house rules profile for chariots in their various armies to allow singles or pairs instead of triples.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/01/21 14:58:44


Post by: Polonius


 Azazelx wrote:
I agree with you on all counts regarding the chariots and the "fixes" to them. I'd love to figure out a decent house rules profile for chariots in their various armies to allow singles or pairs instead of triples.


I actually like shifting "singles" into character slots, but I think that a lot of the non-undead heroes are grossly overcosted for what they do. And for Ogres, I'm not sure +1 strength and gaining TC(2) is worth giving up Nimble for.

And that's one of the big bummers with Ogre Chariots: they're only one point faster than the Warriors (which are a really good unit!) TC(2) is nice, but with Spd7 they'll be outcharged a lot of the time.

I think it's simply an attempt to shoehorn in large cavalry into more armies (Ogres, Men, Goblins, and Orcs all have chariots but on other large cav). I would have preferred they be kept as a monster one/off, but that's not the case. And they're also likely a inducement to use the WFB Ogre cavalry in Kings of War.



The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/01/22 17:00:30


Post by: Polonius


I painted up the boomers, warriors, and shamans using the typical paint scheme. I may go back to the shaman's eyes if I can find a decent tutorial on OSL, as a bit of green glow on the face would really make the eyes pop. I know that violates my rule about learning new techniques, but it's worth a shot...







It's looking a blizzard is coming here in Baltimore, which means I won't be dullcoting these guys anytime soon. Still, they're mostly done, which means I've painted 36 Restic Ogres, 6 Metal Braves, and 2 Shamans from the my Kickstarter pledge of two mega armies. That just leaves the 6 Chariots and (gulp) 80 plastic goblins...


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/01/22 17:18:35


Post by: GrimDork


Wow you are killing it. I just can't do army/volume painting like that any more. And you're doing quality too which is awesome.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/01/22 17:49:18


Post by: Da Boss


Nice work! You're doing a great job on these guys.

80 mantic goblins though- hell. I hope you're ready for that!


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/01/22 19:58:04


Post by: Polonius


 GrimDork wrote:
Wow you are killing it. I just can't do army/volume painting like that any more. And you're doing quality too which is awesome.


You're too kind! I had all of these guys built and primed before christmas, so all I'm doing now is throwing the paint on them. And since I already had the color scheme and some experience painting the models, it went unusually fast.

Going back to the chariots, the eagle eyed may have noticed that two did not have right arms. I wanted to convert one to be a leader, either in the regiment or as a Warlord on Chariot, and one as a banner bearer to double as an Army Standard Bearer.

I found these bitz, and corresponding mantic Arms:




Next, glued the bitz unto steel rod, then dry fit the rod so I could glue the arm into place:







Then, pulled the rods back out, trimmed to length, and glued into place:





For a five minute conversion, I think it looks pretty cool!


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/01/22 20:16:47


Post by: GrimDork


Yeah thats a neat spear and man-thumper. Gotta love blunt weapons in fantasy warfare, much easier to make unconscious dudes into slaves than dead ones


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/01/23 01:55:00


Post by: Polonius


 Da Boss wrote:
80 mantic goblins though- hell. I hope you're ready for that!


I have a running head start! I spent a week with my family around Thanksgiving, and I spent a few of the days my wife spent playing with our newborn nephew building the goblins. I was going to do a "sprue to tabletop" review, but since I've reached them in the painting queue, I might as well show them off.

Here are 80 Goblins built and spray primed Army Painter Fur Brown:



Close up of one little guy:



I touched up missed primer with grey Badger brush on primer and painted the base Walnut Brown:



Finally, retouched up any Fur Brown with paint:



The plan is pure Army Painter system: prime them brown, paint on other colors in a bright scheme, hit hard with a heavy brown wash, touch up the base, and see how they look!



The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/01/23 03:31:12


Post by: GrimDork


Nice, a MACHINE


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/01/23 09:24:01


Post by: Azazelx


Nice start on the goblins, will their skin be staying brown? I also like the mods to the charioteers - very effective!


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/01/23 19:57:17


Post by: Polonius


 Azazelx wrote:
Nice start on the goblins, will their skin be staying brown? I also like the mods to the charioteers - very effective!


The goblin skin is going to be green (more on that below). I primed the goblins green because the models have a lot of soft detail in the legs and torsos, especially in the back. Pants, belts, straps, pouches, scabbards, etc. all kind of smoosh together. The thought of picking out all of those details made queasy. There also isn't as much exposed skin as on similar GW Goblins, as they have knee pads, wrist armor, and hoods. I picked Fur Brown primer for the simple reason that I already had a can of it on hand, but I thought it would take a heavy wash really well.

For the AP system, the key is to lay down a base that's brighter than you want, and let the wash do the work. So I picked out the skin in Vallejo Model Color Olive Green, the armor was VGC Gunmetal, the hood and tabards are Reaper Master Series Fresh Blood, and the bow was painted VMC English Brown. It's an odd grab bag of colors,but they're the sort normally used for final highlights. Luckily, the Fur Brown was a decent base for the bright colors:



I then used Vallejo Game Color Sepia Wash (the large dipping formula) laid heavily all over the models. I gave it overnight to dry, and I'm pretty happy with the result:



The biggest question I have is wondering if I should highlight the skin to make it more green. My artistic side really wants to touch up the ears and nose to provide some brightness in the regiment, while my practical side is aware that there are 60 more of these bastards to paint. I'd love any thoughts on the matter.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/01/24 01:31:54


Post by: Azazelx


Damn, they came together quickly and really easily. I like the kind of dull green of the skin that you've already got there - it makes it a look a bit more natural. (My own Warhammer-ish O&G painting style is stuck in 1989). I think they look really good as-is. A bit of flock to offset the base and you're good.

If you want to add some extra brightness or interest to the base, I'd go with a leader model or standard (or both - maybe one for each block of 20?) Since they're just decorative in KoW now, they're a good way to add a bit of visual interest to the throngs that they lead.

But yeah, as R&F, they look perfect. Done!


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/01/24 18:02:36


Post by: Polonius


While they still need dull cote and their flock, presented for your review are 80 Mantic Goblins:



While I have plenty of unkind things to say about the models, I will concede that they paint up very quickly, and look perfectly fine ranked up.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/01/24 18:09:39


Post by: GrimDork


That they do, nice work, damned quick too.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/01/24 19:19:53


Post by: Da Boss


Wow, fantastic work!


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/01/24 23:57:07


Post by: Azazelx


Great work, and very effective.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/01/25 02:51:43


Post by: Polonius


 Azazelx wrote:
If you want to add some extra brightness or interest to the base, I'd go with a leader model or standard (or both - maybe one for each block of 20?) Since they're just decorative in KoW now, they're a good way to add a bit of visual interest to the throngs that they lead.

But yeah, as R&F, they look perfect. Done!


I agree about the command models, but I don't own any. They are metal components, and only come in the hybrid regiments (sharpsticks and rabble). I'm not going to spend more money on these guys...






Automatically Appended Next Post:
The only aspect of the Ogre Mega armies that is unpainted are the six Chariots, which are also still unprimed. Since it's a snowpocolypse outside, I won't be spray priming, and the models are two large, fiddly, and unnecessary for me to try to prime them with a brush. Rather than jump to another project, I decided to build some models today.

When I started collecting Cygnar, I jumped in hard, collecting both wide and deep. While my interest in the game has waned, I am startling close to one of everything for the Cygnar. When asked what I wanted for Christmas, I figured the list of missing models would be an easy shopping trip to Miniature Market for my mother-in-law. She came through in a big way, buying me Haley3, Ace, Reliant, a Trencher Cannon, and a Stormtower. Couple that with a FLGS going-out-of-business sale where I picked up Darius and a Triumph upgrade kit, and I have a murderers row of the very new and very obscure. I also forget how much PP hates gamers, as they consistently build models that have a stance wider than the base. Still, I got the metal/resin models built:



I also put together a Medium Mortar for my Bolt Action Germans:





The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/02/03 13:52:45


Post by: Polonius


While I haven't gotten any more painting done on my Ogres, I did one better: played with them! I went to a 12 man tournament, and despite losing my first two games, I dominated the loser's bracket to finish at .500. Alas, I used my iPad for a chess clock, and didn't get any action shots. Still, I got some nice posed shots during army judging:

2000 points of Ogre:


My three hordes of Ogre Warriors (painted last year):







Grokagamok and Standard Bearer:





The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/02/03 14:36:56


Post by: GrimDork


Great stuff, glad to hear you had fun


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/02/05 13:42:02


Post by: Polonius


Progress on my Ogres is stalled until the weather breaks enough for me to do some spraying. I have a few hordes that need dullcote followed by flock, and a chariot horde that need primer. In the interim, I reached for smaller project: my Bolt Action Germans. I've been playing BA for a little over a year, mostly with a buddy in Cleveland before I moved. Right before I applied for my current job, which lead to the move, I bought a box of goodies from Warlord to bulk up my Heer: A Stug, a Puma, a box of the new late war grenadiers, a character pack, and an observer pack. I also grabbed a medium mortar at a black Friday sale. It was all built and primed late last fall, but in the last week or so I've finally started base painting them.

I only have a few more colors before the black wash and highlights:


I love the options and possibilities of this kit!



The character pack was the set "Guarding the Chateau," meant for scenarios and objectives. It's two guards, a scientist, and a Gestapo agent. All for $8! These guys have a ton of character, and are exactly why I got into mini painting in the first place:





The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/02/05 13:53:04


Post by: GrimDork


Very nice. I'm not a huge ww2 fan but I admire bolt action from afar, so looking forward to your progress!


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/02/05 14:19:46


Post by: Thraxas Of Turai


Great work on the Ogres, really nice to see such a large group of them painted together, I really like your scheme as well.

I know nothing of BA bar the setting and Warlord's involvement, but your Germans are coming together nicely already.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/02/07 17:04:11


Post by: Polonius


The rain has stopped and the temperature is peaking above 40, so I'm finally priming my Ogre Chariots. If I have time, I'll also prime the last of my Cygnar stuff so I can get that ball rolling after I finish "ze Germans."

Speaking of which, here is a blurry picture of my attempt at zeltbahn camo. I used the same camo triad that I do on my tanks: Delta Ceramcote Trail Tan, Autumn Brown, and Forest Green. I simply blotch the paint on. My goal is to give the feeling of Camo, not to slavishly follow any particular pattern.



One thing I found kind of surprising when I first starting painting historicals was how little consensus there is on the colors for the Wermacht. Napoleonic uniforms are specified down to the tiniest detail, but basics like "what color is dunklegelb" elude us. On the one hand, it allows an army painter to be a bit creative, and show how he feels a German platoon would look. On the other, there's something comforting about buying a pot of Vallejo paint that exactly matches what you're trying to do.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/02/07 17:13:57


Post by: GrimDork


Yeah, that's interesting that they aren't specified to death like most other historical stuff.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/02/07 17:42:20


Post by: Polonius


 GrimDork wrote:
Yeah, that's interesting that they aren't specified to death like most other historical stuff.


Some things are, of course. You can get the exact camo patterns for Luftwaffe troops across multiple time frames. But basic things, like the color of fatigues or the base color of the tanks, varied dramatically, and the reason why is actually tied to a big part of why Germany struggled in the mid to late war: highly decentralized war industry.

Compared to the Allies, or even the Japanese, the Germans did little to coordinate or centralize war production. So while it would not be uncommon for an American company to build, say, airplanes using the design of another companies, and engines built from a third companies that were actually designed by a fourth English company, Germany more or less only contracted out for supplies, and then bought them. Each company was left to do as they saw fit, which while occasionally resulted in brilliance, often resulted in wasted effort. For example, Porche tried to get the Tiger tank contract, and had actually built over a hundred chassis before losing the contract. They became tank destroyers, which while great, could not be resupplied or repaired as the chassis was not being built.

So, all of this means that for things like armor paint or fatigues, very general guidelines were issued, and each firm had their own recipe. Keep in mind that you have nearly a ten year period of production (counting prewar build up), huge amounts of goods "acquired" after the annexation of Austria and Czechoslovakia and the conquest of France, dramatically different theaters (saharan desert, French Bocage, subarctic), and good old fashioned wear and tear, and you end up with even Osprey books showing German fatigues ranging from bluish grey in the early war, to brownish grey in Africa, to greenish grey in late war.




Automatically Appended Next Post:
Here are some more pictures taken after a black wash, which I think tones down the camo, and looks pretty decent:







The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/02/13 16:43:15


Post by: Polonius


Some Ogre updates:

I was able to dullcote, which means I could flock my boys:





I think I found the point on the army building curve where the practice in painting the same colors outpaces the fatigue from seeing the same models. I think they ended up looking pretty tight.

The goblins, while arguably not being worth it, actually look great ranked up:





A bit of a close up so you can see what passes for detail in my paint job:





The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/02/13 17:53:45


Post by: Briancj


Nice work on everything, the mass-paint techniques work well!


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/02/13 17:58:41


Post by: GrimDork


The goblins get the job done and the ogres look as good as ever.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/02/13 18:06:17


Post by: Cosmic


This is a really great blog - I really like your painting approach. Nice work the Kings of War stuff, and good job on actually getting a game in. I am delighted to see the result of the Vallejo Sepia wash. I picked some up, and was considering using it for some quick 'n' dirty 'nids. (Didn't want to open a container just for a test model.) Keep up the awesome work!


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/02/15 17:02:26


Post by: Polonius


I took some time to work on my Bolt Action Germans. Last time I posted they'd been hit with their black wash. since then, I've added some highlights to the uniform, dunklegelb (yellow ochre), and skin tones, and painted the webbing black using the lazy man's method: paint very dark gray, then paint over it with slightly watered down black ink. It provides some very subtle highlights while keeping the surface very, very black.







The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/02/15 17:16:46


Post by: GrimDork


I approve of lazy black I've got some soldiers with black armor that started out dark grey and got 2-3 black ink/washes.

I've even taken to lazy metal prep--- I do white undercoats so no easy metals for me...but I've been using black ink/wash on the parts that I would traditionally paint black, it's quicker and *much* easier to tidy up/disperse when you paint outside the lines than regular old black acrylic. Seems to be working with the boltgun just fine so far.

I like your Germans, very sharp and dark. Imposing that way.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/02/15 17:23:50


Post by: Polonius


Here are some close ups of the figures, including some good views of the lazy black and my camo scheme:





The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/02/16 12:14:57


Post by: Polonius


I managed to get the last details done on my Germans, stuff like the lighter gray collars, eyes, fiddly details on radios, hair, etc. Rather than a group shot, I'm going to put up some representative close ups.

The Forward Observer with assitant:



Forward Observer/Spotter:



Assault Rifle Officer & Aide



Medium Mortar:



Light Machine Gunner:


Loaders:



Guards:



Gestapo Agent and Scientist:



The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/02/18 13:22:54


Post by: Polonius


A bit of a quick update today, as I realized I never showed the final Shamans:



Also, look what finally got primed!








Automatically Appended Next Post:
So, I know everybody has been waiting with bated breath to see how I paint late war German Armored vehicles! To satisfy that desire, just keep reading!

First, you establish your dunkelgelb. By midwar, all German vehicles were painted this color, which helpfully, has been lost to history. No, really Google Dunkelgelb: all the results are modelers and hobbyists trying to figure out how to paint their tanks. My take? Pick an ochre you like, and rock it out. For me, I use the Reaper Master Series Khaki Brown triad. First, you lay a nice base of Uniform Brown, than you wash it with a reasonably heavy wash. I've used Les's Awesome Flesh wash, doctored with a bit of brown ink and Green Black ink, to give a really dirty, slightly greenish brown (that brings out the ochre).



Next, you dry brush the next two paints in the Triads over it: Green Ochre and Faded Khaki. To start the camo stripes, I mix some forest green about 1:2 with the Faded Khaki, and stiple some stripes:



I then stipple a thicker mix of the green/khaki in a narrower line



Repeat the process with a rich earth brown mixed with Khaki:



And again to darken the middle of the stripes:



then you take the pure green, water it to milk like consistency, and run it down the very middle of the stripes. Repeat with the brown:



It's a pretty quick and dirty technique to get that iconic German paint scheme.



The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/02/18 18:35:54


Post by: Boss Salvage


Great looking Ogres - pretty sure I've been to this plog before but never bothered to compliment nor subscribe Would love to hear more about your experience gaming with the big lads, if you're interested in writing something up.

The Mantic Goblins look solid as well, kind of like that little bit bulkier look over GeeDub's weedy gits. Will have to check out the Mantic line.

- Savage


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/02/18 18:40:02


Post by: GrimDork


Sweet tanks, timelost color notwithstanding. The fire in the ogre casters is nice too.

That chariot unit is impressively massive.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/02/18 20:37:23


Post by: Polonius


 Boss Salvage wrote:
Great looking Ogres - pretty sure I've been to this plog before but never bothered to compliment nor subscribe Would love to hear more about your experience gaming with the big lads, if you're interested in writing something up.


I like their play style a lot, but they're actually pretty simple. The list has a decent amount of variety, but the meat and potatos of the list are the basic warriors.

A horde of warriors (six models) is 200 points, has 18 attacks, hits on a 3+, has CS1, and has a 5+ save. That's elite stats across the board, all while being slight more compact than a cavalry regiment (120x80 compared to 125x100) and only slightly larger than an infantry regiment (100x80 for most models). Compared to infantry hordes, they're far smaller, but also have substantially lower Nerve - most infantry hordes are 20/22 compared to Ogres at 15/17. This means it only takes eight wounds to make it more likely that you'll waver/rout than be steady. Even at a 5+ save, CS/TC2 or more are pretty common. Still, Ogres are more likely to be steady after taking a charge from Knights than not, especially if Inspired.

Ogres hit hard, but even CS1 struggles against 6+ saves, and they lack the sheer attacks to one shot infantry hordes. Still, having crushing strength instead of thunderous charge means that Ogres hit harder on the countercharge than nearly all units, especially at that price point. And that's what make Ogres so dangerous: while the Warriors are a very well rounded unit, good but not great in most aspects, they're surprisingly cheap. The quesiton isn't what a single Horde can do, it's what two Hordes can do! Which, I'm sure you can imagine, is lay out most enemy units in a turn.

At speed 6, Ogres can outcharge most infantry (and large infantry ), but obviously struggle against heavy cavalry. KOW is all about premeasuring, so against a line of knights... your hordes are not going to outcharge them. That's where the chaff comes in. KOW is all about chaff, and Ogres have three great options. Red Goblins (goblin archers) are the cheapest option, running 85 poitns for a regiment of really lousy bowmen. With only 12/14 nerve, the gobbos should break without too much, just keep inspiring from them. In the mean time, they can pepper some pot shots, and against gunlines they do yeomans work providing cover (and do not have yellow bellied, so they can charge enemies to hopefully disrupt them). My favorite chaff are the Red Goblin Scouts. The wolfboys are 100pts for a troop, and have laughably low 9/11 nerve. However, they are size two, so actually block LOS to the Ogres, and at speed 10 with TC1, they can reliably disrupt enemy shooting or heavy cavalry, and they can knock out warmachines. They also do great work on the flanks, being nimble. Finally, an interesting option for "chaff" are Boomer Troops. While pricier at 150 points, they have a ridiculous threat range with Speed 6 and Breath Weapon. That's 18" they can reach out, which is longer than most charge distances, and can help break a stalemate. Boomers also melee on a 4+ with 9 attacks and CS1, so they aren't bad to throw into the mix.

In the end, playing Ogres is simply Clausewitz: if you can get local numerical advantage, you'll outpunch the enemy most of the time. If you get divided or flanked, you don't have the numbers to lose an Ogre Horde lightly. Shambling armies can really be frustrating, as they can outmanuever Ogre armies with hard hitting units.

If you have any specific questions, let me know. I'm still learning, but the army is a great mix of compact, elite infantry, some interesting monsters, and cheap as chips light cavalry.


The Mantic Goblins look solid as well, kind of like that little bit bulkier look over GeeDub's weedy gits. Will have to check out the Mantic line.
- Savage


They look all right, and I like the slightly more fierce look compared to the goofier GW models, but they're not great models. The detail is soft, and they come in a lot of pieces for models that all end up in pretty similar poses. Still, if you can get them cheap, they paint up easy.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/02/18 20:51:30


Post by: Boss Salvage


Cheers for the rundown I'm running my old Skaven as Ratkin currently but have a plan to make Ogres my first proper Kings army - somewhat fittingly, as Ogres were the army I returned to WHFB with back when 7E started. Loving Kings, by the by, fitfuls of dice for great justice.
 Polonius wrote:
They look all right, and I like the slightly more fierce look compared to the goofier GW models, but they're not great models. The detail is soft, and they come in a lot of pieces for models that all end up in pretty similar poses. Still, if you can get them cheap, they paint up easy.
So I did check out the rest of the range, and wasn't overly impressed. Bit weedier than I expected, so I guess credit to your speed paint here? I think it must be your restricted pallet pulling things together, as opposed to the Mantic job with a mishmash of dark details and greenskin. Anyhoo, happy to not be unexpectedly building a Gobbo army

- Salvage


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/02/18 20:52:58


Post by: Polonius


 GrimDork wrote:
Sweet tanks, timelost color notwithstanding. The fire in the ogre casters is nice too.

That chariot unit is impressively massive.


Yeah, I'm not sure what, if anything, I'm going to do for a movement tray. They don't rank up, so I guess I'll be going pizza box lid or something goofy like that. I'm not sure how much I'll be using them, but part of me is tempted to throw the brew of sharpness on them, screen them with Scouts. That's a 310point unit, but it'd hit on 2+ with 24 attacks at TC2&CS1. That's ~16 wounds on anything without ensare/phalanx/6+ defense, which combined with Brutal is a healthy rout test.

The problem is that the unit is exactly as durable as the 200pts Warrior Horde, and hits only slightly harder against Phalanxes. The unit is also huge, making it extremely unweildy. For the same 300 points, I could ally in Soul Reaver Cavalry, Mounted Sons of Khorgan (chaos knights), or even just two regiments of warriors...


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/02/19 15:35:38


Post by: GrimDork


Hmm yeah, they look scary though

I should really look into more theory/gameplay for KoW, I'm largely uninformed as I slowly building my Orcs lol.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/02/19 23:00:32


Post by: Azazelx


The Germans look great. The Ogre Chariots look to be coming alone (I can see paint on them in the background of the German armour!) I'll be using a Warlord and Standard on chariots as IC, but I think I'll limit my actual cavalry to however many OK cavalry models I've got (can't recall if I got 1 or 2 boxes of them).

Which will simply be a matter of using what I've got because I like the models. I'm still butthurt that they went with units of 3/6 on chariots instead of allowing 2 and 4, which are a much more managable size.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/02/20 00:05:20


Post by: Polonius


 Azazelx wrote:
The Germans look great. The Ogre Chariots look to be coming alone (I can see paint on them in the background of the German armour!) I'll be using a Warlord and Standard on chariots as IC, but I think I'll limit my actual cavalry to however many OK cavalry models I've got (can't recall if I got 1 or 2 boxes of them).

Which will simply be a matter of using what I've got because I like the models. I'm still butthurt that they went with units of 3/6 on chariots instead of allowing 2 and 4, which are a much more managable size.


I'd guess it was an attempt to maintain the symmetry between infantry and cavalry in terms of the number of files, or they just didn't think of it overly much. The sheer footprint makes the chariots units pretty rough though at 50x100. A horde of chariots is twice as deep as say, Drakons.

I'm not too worried, as the footprint is only one reason I don't see myself using them overly much.

 GrimDork wrote:
Hmm yeah, they look scary though

I should really look into more theory/gameplay for KoW, I'm largely uninformed as I slowly building my Orcs lol.


There are a couple of good articles here: http://kingsofwarresource.com/ It seems to be the officially unofficial page for KOW.



To finish the German armor, I moved to the tracks of the Stug. I laid down Army Painter Fur Brown for a rusty base. This was a new technique, so I was eager to try it:



I then inked the treads with pure black ink and drybrushed them boltgun. I also picked out all the details. The finished tanks:





Overall, I'm very happy with them. They look a bit too factory fresh for my tastes, but I'll wait until after they're dullcoted, if at all, to try to weather them up.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/02/27 20:28:24


Post by: Polonius


I finally got a chance to put some paint on the Ogre Chariots.



I took my time with these, and laid a better base coat than normally. The boars were surprisingly decent models, and once I figured out where the details were, the painting was that bad. The biggest problem was the sheer complexity of the models, and the times when it was tough to fit a brush into tighter spots. Still, with a good base coat and wash, I'll need to focus mostly on the highlights.

Despite my negative attitude towards the models while building them, I think they're going to look pretty cool once fully painted. The trick is going to be to keep enough distinct browns to allow the details to show through, and find some areas for brighter colors to pop through.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/02/27 23:13:34


Post by: GrimDork


Nice. I liked my boar rider boars.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/03/11 00:54:28


Post by: JoshInJapan


I'm a little late to the party, but I want to say that you're ogres are really quite inspiring. I really like the brown skin/blue hair combo.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/03/20 16:54:58


Post by: Polonius


I haven't made too much progress on the Chariots in the last few weeks, but I'll share some close up shots:








I did make some progress on accessories though. While I'm still waiting on my official Kickstarter trays, I bought the trays I'll need for Adepticon from Ironheart Artisans:



they had decent prices, very fast shipping, and they burn the size of each tray into the bottom, so you can tell them apart. All in all, I'm pretty happy.

I've begun the process of painting them dark brown to match my bases:



I also went to the Target and found a nice bulletin board to use as a very simple display board. Last year I lost out best painted all-mantic army due to my lack of display board. The event is much bigger now, so I doubt I'll win, but it's a shame to have a nicely painted army and cart it around in a blue plastic serving tray. I cut PVA glue 50/50 with water, and brushed it on with a big nylon brush. I dumped my standard rock base (Woodland Scenis Medium Ballast) over the whole thing, and let it dry over night.



When the weather warms back up, I'll spray paint it, and throw a quick and dirty coat or two of paint.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/03/22 16:54:23


Post by: Polonius


The Ogre Chariots are basically done pending dull cote. I still need to apply the flock and do a banner, but the pains are on the models, so that makes me happy. My biggest concern is that the only bright colors are on the ogres themselves, and the shields on the left hand side. From the front there isn't any real "pop." Well, the boar's tongues are a bright red, but they're harder to see than you'd think. I"m toying with the idea of adding some red, but they're boars pulling a leather and wood chariot. There's no way to avoid a lot of brown. Maybe they'll look better with the rich green grass flock.







I also got some nice brown on my movement trays:



The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/04/04 00:47:57


Post by: Azazelx


Flock on the bases will help to visually separate the models from the bases. If you want to add more colour to the sides, you could paint the boars' shoulder armour to match the ogres' shields?

The same for the boars' "helmets" and the front angle.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/04/10 19:01:00


Post by: Polonius


I'm back from Adepticon, where I had a ton of fun, and also managed to avoid buying too many models. Unfortunately, I didn't get too many pictures of my army in action, but I do have a slightly blurry picture of it awaiting painting judgement:



I went 4-2, and finished in 8th place in the Clash of Kings, so I'm pretty happy about my performance.

The weather has taken a bizarre cold turn here in Baltimore, so I haven't had a chance to Dull Cote my chariots, but I hope to do that soon so I can see how they look with some flock and a banner.

My wife is going to be out of town for week, so I hope to get the Cygnar that's currently primed on my workbench painted and in foam, and finish building and then prime my 20 man resin tactical squad for my Emperor's children. after that, I might have some fun and paint some of the random minis I got at Adepticon:

the swag bag itself included the usual array of neat minis:





And sprues for Maelstorm's Edge handlers and a 15mm German Stug. In the Vendor hall, I scored a demo of Wreck Age, which was actually pretty fun. I'm not in the market for new games, but they did have a box of post collapse civilians/traders, which seemed like useful models for a wide range of games. One of my rules at adepticon is that I try to buy some small company models every year, because I think diversity is good for the hobby.

At the bitz swap, I scored two Goblin Bolt Throwers, which will go nicely with the two Battle for Skull Pass boxes and other gubbins I grabbed last year. I've got a nice goblin army brewing for either Age of Sigmar or KOW, depending on how I pivot. As of now, I've got only about $100 in it, so I'm comfortable keeping it boxed up in case of emergency.

the other big find at the Bitz Swap was a fantastic buy that will tie into my major, secret project that's still over the horizon.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/04/10 19:05:29


Post by: GrimDork


Sounds like a good time. I'm not too far from Adepticon, maybe 4 hours? But I haven't made the time to go (not usually got a painted army or been playing enough to know whats what). Good to see other gamers having fun there though. Seems like a modest and restrained amount of purchases so good job, also yay for positive score in the Clash.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/04/10 20:10:50


Post by: Polonius


 GrimDork wrote:
Sounds like a good time. I'm not too far from Adepticon, maybe 4 hours? But I haven't made the time to go (not usually got a painted army or been playing enough to know whats what). Good to see other gamers having fun there though. Seems like a modest and restrained amount of purchases so good job, also yay for positive score in the Clash.


I highly recommend a trip down to Adepticon. There are plenty of casual and narrative events, there are also hobby seminars. For example, I took one this year that was all about the theory and practice of metallics. It was good stuff, I learned a lot, and it was only $20.

It's also worth wandering around for a solid day. There are so many great armies to see in so many different games. Plus, the $50 for a full badge more than pays for itself in the swag bag. This year the first 1000 badges got a full Hordes 2 player set (and army book), in addition to all the stuff I mentioned above, plus a 2009 CMON annual book, a wild west exodus paperback, bases, paints, and other stuff.

there are worse ways to spend $200 than buying a badge and a hotel room for Saturday night, driving down Saturday morning, and taking it all in.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/04/10 20:25:34


Post by: GrimDork


Yeah, we went to Gencon a couple-three years back and it was totally worth it, just haven't had a chance to get back out since the second little one showed up

Swag bag sounds neat, I don't think gencon had anything like that and it still wasn't as cheap to sign up.

Maybe one of these days when the kids are a little older. For now, I'll have to live vicariously through my fellow gamers


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/04/26 20:22:58


Post by: Polonius


I suffered some pretty serious post-Adepticon burnout, which is pretty normal, and I've been working 55 hour weeks, which is not. So last weekend, I was very pleased to finally have some time to myself, and I of course spent it painting!

First off, I finished the Ogres. Despite my earlier misgivings about the lack of color in the front half of the models, I feel better with the flock added. I also added a small pennat to the standard pole, which matches roughly the ASBs.





After five months with this army, including three tournaments, about 2500 points painted, and my first ever movement tray, it's bitter sweet to move on. The army actually isn't 100% done, I still have 15 or so Ogres that I can paint. I'm holding off to see how I'd like to build them. Given that I have more than enough to play even the largest game, I feel it's unlikely that I'll be returning to the big guys any time soon. Still, it's with heavy heart that I call that project officially done.

So what next for Polonius? I have a couple of smaller projects that I really want to finish before rolling out the next big one. First up is finishing my Cygnar. I had built and primed the last few pieces I got for Christmas a few months ago, and I started laying some base coats:

Some Artillery, which was tough because I painted my trenchers a couple years ago and barely remember how to match the color scheme:



Reliant, Triumph, and Ace: just a really, really bizarre battlegroup. Nothing paints up easier than Jacks once you pick your colors. I stick to a bright cygnar blue for all the armor panels, gunmetal for anything metal, enough brass to break it up, and electric blue on the gubbins. Easy enough!



Darius, who paints pretty much like a warjack, while the halfjacks and mines are super simple:



3Haley, one of the models that really challenges my rule about not included tans or browns in my cygnar uniforms. I stick with greys, which now I realize deprives most of my models of a warm color, but it's too late now. Present Haley is painted pretty by the book, while Past haley is going to be painted with muted greys and blues, looking very washed out. Future Haley is getting bold, bright blues, and should look more electric. They're actually pretty nice models, in that once built (a PITA) they have some nice dynamic posing and really look like past and future echos.



Finally, something not cygnar blue: Lady Ayana and Master Holt. I've only painted a few bits as I had the paint on my brush, but I'm looking forward to treating them like the one off mercenaries they are:



Once the Cygnar is complete, I'll have exhausted the primed backlog, which means I need to clean and assemble some more models. Next up are 20 Tactical marines I picked up at a bitz swap. They'll be painted to match my 30k Emperor's Children, and are based on Secret Weapon Runic Mountain bases. 10 of the lads are already built (except the shoulder pads, which were special order), and the other ten are cleaned of flash, with legs pinned to bases, and are ready for a wash in detergent.



I'm having fun with some different projects, I hope you all enjoy following them.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/04/29 05:15:16


Post by: Azazelx


The finished ogres look great, and the flock really does make a difference to the colour. I don't know much about WarmaHordes, but cool looking models are always fun to view, I am looking forward to your EC, though!


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/04/29 05:46:15


Post by: evildrcheese


Cool blog, looking forward to seeing the EC.

EDC


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/04/29 11:59:42


Post by: Polonius


I painted a small army of EC last year. I had been slowly collecting the FW models, and then two years ago I bought a fairly large lot on the Dakka Swap shop. I had most of it painted, but I grabbed 20 more tacticals at a bitz swap at my FLGS. I had sold enough stuff that it doesn't cost me anything out of pocket, at least until I had to get the shoulder pads, of course!

Still, if you're curious, pics of my EC are in a folder on my gallery, and I'll post a few highlights below:

Some MkII Tacticals:



Phoenix Guard:



My original Tactical squad with officer:





The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/05/05 14:27:46


Post by: Polonius


I've been able to do a little painting and assembly, which is fun. First up are the assembled tactical marines, plus two apothecaries I forgot that I had!



I'm trying to decide if I should paint the apothecaries in white armor, or with the loin cloths and shoulderpads, I should keep them mostly purple with touches of white.

My Cygnar are rounding into shape as well!

Oh Darius. I love those early Mark I sculpts: relatively low detail, nice chunky sculpts, they were perfect gaming pieces. they didn't look amazing, but nothing painted easier:




On the other hand, the brand new HIPS also has some nice detail without being bogged down. The reliant looks pretty sharp!



And just in time for Mark III, I have two more artillery crews!



Haley 3 is a really nice model. My initial thoughts of having Present Haley normal, Future very bold, and Past washed out isn't coming along as perfectly as I'd hoped, but I can throw some layers of wash over the past to dull her while I try to make future pop.





The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/05/16 20:22:11


Post by: Polonius


I finished the Cygnar on my desk, of course I found an old MKI Charger that still needs painting, but it feels good to be done with the Cygnar!

Captain Darius, leading his pack of halfjacks:



Triumph, Ace, and a Reliant:



Haley3. I was actually pretty happy with how these came out. I tried to adjust not just the colors, but also the techniques to differentiate the three. Past is mostly washes and very muted tones. Future has an inked suit of armor, plus a richly highlighted cloak. Present has the same armor as the models in the rest of the army, but I have her a vibrant white cloak to accentuate her purity (in the magical sense) and her status.



The Trencher Cannon is a pretty boring model. It's quite nice, but there's not much to say about it.



PP gets a bad rap about it's models, and while I think they still have more duds than homeruns, their steampunk aesthetic for Cygnar is really on point. Nothing says mad scientist quite like a light artillery piece that throws lightning. I suppose the storm strider, but still...



Iyana and Holt were interesting models, in that they're Werner Klocke designed and look it. While they fit right into the Iron Kingdoms, there's a level of character and mystery to them that, of course, fits into the background for the models. Holt is so spiffy and square jawed, while Iyana is modest and aloof. These models were a ton of fun to paint, and I played a bit more with layering than I normally do. Holt's coat might be one of the nicest things I've ever painted.





The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/05/17 17:38:24


Post by: Polonius


I know what everybody has been secretly clamoring for: multiple angles on a quickly painted early MK I warjack! Well, its your lucky day. I got this little guy in a trade with a buddy, along with a partner that's missing an arm, and I finally got him built up last week. Over the weekend we had some nice weather, and I was able to prime him. Sunday and Monday evening I did a nice speed paint, and I think he looks very nice for a table top paint job:







I also painted the two razor boars that came with the Unleashed adventure kit to match my very small farrow army:



And thoroughly enjoying some time to paint odd projects, I finally finished a group of ten Deadzone plague zombies:



I have 75 more of these guys, which I'm no hurry to paint, but there's something primal about the urge to have a huge mass of plague zombies!


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/05/18 05:24:31


Post by: Azazelx


Nice looking WM stuff. I know next to nothing about it all, but a good looking force looks good regardless of the game. Zombies look cool as well, Keeping it down to a dozen or so at a time is my motto, with ample time for breaks in between!


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/05/28 02:06:44


Post by: Polonius


Today's post is mostly updates on my EC. I was finally able to prime them in a narrow window between cold and rain and high humidity. Previously, I'd painted their secret weapon runic mountain bases all stone grey, highlighted up. After realizing there is earth and dirt modeled on many of them, I'm changing that up. I gave the bases a coat of Vallego model color smoke, the highlighted the earth with Reaper Master Series bone shadow, which is also the rim color. I also painted the bolter VMC basalt grey and all metal Vallejo model air gun grey. Anything eventually gold was painted autumn brown. Power weapons got a coat of Vallejo game color magic blue, and the bases and bolters got a SWM heavy black wash.



Next comes power armor, painted using the RMS Purple triad. Everything got a base a nightshade purple, which is close enough to black it'd actually make a neat highlight for rich black tones. Next I layered a mix of nightshade and imperial purples, which now gives some definition:





Next, I started the gold, using RMS Antique Gold:



For a peek at my paint scheme, here's a model from last year:




Last weekend saw the end of a pretty incredible streak: for the first time in well over a year, I bought minis off the shelf of a retail store at full retail! I had backed the first Deadzone Kickstarter, but not the second. Still, I might want to play if anybody around me buys in. However, despite getting seemingly dozens of models, and selecting the Rebs as my double pick, I was missing the specialists pack: the medic, the flying guy, the space hobbits, and the missile launcher team. A store actually had that pack on the shelf, and at $25 was better than the $40 I'd probably have to pay when mantic finally rerelease so the Rebs in two sets. Digging through my stuff, I also found a skink guy that had broken, and a plague elite that I had given up trying to assemble. With a pin and some glue, all were ready for priming:



This actually worked out, as the Rebs can now take a space skink commander. I'll give him a simple inverted paint scheme to stand out, and he'll do nicely!




The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/05/28 02:18:18


Post by: GrimDork


Woah I go away for awhile and Spesh Mahreens?

Lovely cygnar stuff. I don't really like steampunk so there goes my interest for Warmahordes, but you've done a great job with your forces and like Az says it looks good regardless of me knowing much about it.

Nice little batch of deadzone. I really really wanted to love the Rebs, wanted to go in heavily on those but I held back. And then they sucked (more or less) in the rules so I held back more. I may finally assemble and paint a few to use in this is not a test


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/05/30 15:52:49


Post by: Polonius


 GrimDork wrote:
Woah I go away for awhile and Spesh Mahreens?


I'm just cleaning out my project queue. Outside of a calth box and some character blisters, the 20 man tactical and two apothecaries are all that's unpainted from my EC. Its all about tying up loose ends!

Of course, I have a good sized used space marine army my brother gave me, so that's even more potential marine love... The project backlog never goes anywhere

Nice little batch of deadzone. I really really wanted to love the Rebs, wanted to go in heavily on those but I held back. And then they sucked (more or less) in the rules so I held back more. I may finally assemble and paint a few to use in this is not a test


I made some progress on them, getting a base coat followed by a wash. Most models got Army Painter Soft tone quick shade, but the blue guys got Asurman blue while the metal, the loader, and the medic case got a black wash.





And completing the set, a larger plague nasty, painted up pretty close to my old scheme. It was RMS Alien Flesh for the skin and RMS military green for the armor. I washed the skin with Thraka Green, and the armor with black/brown "dirty wash." I threw a quick highlight of alien flesh on the skin and 50/50 military and camo greens on the armor.



He's fine, but I'm not in any way in love with that paint scheme. Eh, at least it matches.



The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/05/30 20:38:21


Post by: JoshInJapan


I like the green scheme on the plague S2. Very different, very striking.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/05/30 21:34:54


Post by: Polonius


 JoshInJapan wrote:
I like the green scheme on the plague S2. Very different, very striking.


Thanks! The box art scheme is nice, but it was a bit too hive fleet leviathan for my tastes.

I finished the Rebs to a pretty nice table top standard. The medic is the most interesting model of the set, but actually I found them all a real pleasure to paint. Mantic had yet to reach a "wow" state with any models, and technically they lag behind even the other mid level companies like Warlord or Wyrd. That said, the models are crisp enough to paint cleanly, and have nice character. The restic allows for more three dimensional models, while still having a retro vibe.



I got a sprue of the mantic abyssals at a Kings of War event, so I'm curious how they're newer plastics build and paint up. Stay tuned for the results!


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/05/31 00:23:46


Post by: GrimDork


Very nice stuff


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/06/03 21:28:04


Post by: Polonius


I made some progress on my giant tactical squad. I layered some Imperial Purple, which may end up being the final purple highlight if I get lazy. Honestly, I like the way the purple pops, so I think any further highlights will just be too far.

I also threw a nice coat of RMS New Gold on the gold. Overall, they're basically done.



One thing I hate is the red trim on the shoulder pad. I'm going to switch that to gold, and see how I like it. I also need to play with the power weapon blue a bit to get a better glow.



The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/06/04 00:12:24


Post by: Azazelx


They look good, but I do agree with you on that red. It's a bit garish against the purple and gold. Might it work ok as copper? (ie like gold but also like red)


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/06/04 03:06:12


Post by: Polonius


I changed the trim to gold, added some blue layers to the power weapons, and threw a VMA aluminum layer on the hardware. Some (hopefully) final shots. Comments and criticisms welcome:

First apothecary.





Second apothecary.





Sarge





The lads




And then a bit of a detour. A very kind Dakkite sent me the Salute 2016 mini, a delightful steampunk lady with a fairly hefty rifle. For some reason, I felt she'd look great as an inquisitor paired with my IG. So here she is with her base coat of blood red and grey:






The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/06/05 03:01:48


Post by: Azazelx


A good choice, the gold trim works much better than the red did. The power weapons look fine, but a little flat. Maybe some start edge highlights would make them pop a little bit more?

Steampunk Inquisitor looks the business, though much more brown than I'm used to seeing from the Inquisition rather than their more traditional colours, so as is, and without any =][= markings, she looks a bit more like a more generic Steampunk sharpshooter at present.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/06/06 00:54:55


Post by: Polonius


 Azazelx wrote:
A good choice, the gold trim works much better than the red did. The power weapons look fine, but a little flat. Maybe some start edge highlights would make them pop a little bit more?


You're right. I took another swing:





Steampunk Inquisitor looks the business, though much more brown than I'm used to seeing from the Inquisition rather than their more traditional colours, so as is, and without any =][= markings, she looks a bit more like a more generic Steampunk sharpshooter at present.


That's fair. I haven't the skill to really add any accoutrements, so I'm hoping the colors are enough. Here's her fully highlighted up:



The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/06/06 02:11:45


Post by: GrimDork


Nice stuff here lately, that steampunk dame has really come along


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/06/06 07:19:53


Post by: evildrcheese


Nice work on the EC. Very fitting for the III legion.

EDC


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/06/06 21:31:43


Post by: Polonius


 GrimDork wrote:
Nice stuff here lately, that steampunk dame has really come along


I like her a lot. I noticed in the picture she's actually got two necklaces, so I need to go back and paint up the inner pendant.


 evildrcheese wrote:
Nice work on the EC. Very fitting for the III legion.

EDC


Thanks! It's just a simple purple and gold, but I love how it looks.

I'm starting on my next project, which is some artillery for my Praetorian IG. I went to Michaels craft store, and grabbed some matchsticks. Using them and a ton of glue, I put together a nice start on a field earthwork:



I'm going to give it time to dry, and them add layers of rocks and earth covering the "timbers."


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/06/06 22:11:44


Post by: Azazelx


Looking good!


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/06/10 16:50:48


Post by: Polonius


Many years ago, both me and my brother were living at home as college dropouts, and while I'd already been gaming, my brother was pretty focused on partying. At my mother's "suggestion," he half heartedly took up 40k, building a codex chapter Space Marine army out of used bins. He threw his own paint scheme over top: dark grey with red/white/blue trim, calling them the "Miniutemen." We'd play scenarios and big games over the years, until he got his own place and instead of going to the FLGS to game, he was able to have me over to his place.

About a year ago, he presented me with the army, telling me that his wife was going to throw it out if I didn't take it. My own wife, keenly aware of how much stuff I had (even after the purges), wasn't thrilled but didn't say anything. Flashforward to the last few weeks. Two big things happened. One, I played some 40k and realized I enjoyed it in the right environement. And two, my wife was out of town, giving me the time to do some serious paint stripping. We live in an apartment, and with no utility sink, the best place is the kitchen sink, which I knew wasn't going to work while she was around. She'll return, hopefully none the wiser, although she's learned not to ask questions she does not want the answer to.

Some army shots pre-stripping bucket:





I use LA's Totally Awesome for paint stripping, and I quickly realized that all of the models had been overpainted, where my brother simply added his paint over a fully painted mini. More than a few were three coats of paint deep, with some having multiple layers of primer. A representative sampling of stripped minis:



I focused initially on the two modern Rhinos. Once stripped, it became clear that both had pretty serious building flaws:

The first owner glued a metal wolf's head to the front of this rhino the only way possible: a full tube of superglue. Also, the windows not being popped into the sockets was an odd choice:



Turning it around, oh my, the treads. Also, the hatch was cockeyed pretty dramatically:



Well, they both can't be that bad... Nope, both pretty bad. This one had headlights proudly attached to the roof, and the window armor glued propped open for some reason. I'm also reasonably certain those are parts of the hunter killer missile system glued randomly to the roof.


]

I did get lucky in that both tore apart pretty nicely. A few of the treads broke, but those are easy to patch with greenstuff, and the upper hull often bends when popped off, making it tough to hold into place, but with some time and love, I think they'll both rebuild:







The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/06/13 13:21:49


Post by: Boss Salvage


I do love a good salvage project Will look forward to the refurb. Is it too early to ask where you're headed with paint, theme, etc?

- Salvage


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/06/13 14:38:48


Post by: Polonius


 Boss Salvage wrote:
I do love a good salvage project Will look forward to the refurb. Is it too early to ask where you're headed with paint, theme, etc?

- Salvage


It took me a while to get the joke I'm excited about it. Instead of working overtime, and just buying models, I spent a full weekend stripping, disassembling, scraping off glue, regluing, and patching with green stuff. It's kind of cool to see a pile of nearly trashed models clean up to something presentable.

As paint, I'm thinking about doing the most basic thing possible: 2nd company ultramarines! I took advantage of Miniature Market's sale to grab the Army Painter Ultramarine spray and touch up paint, so my plan is to hit the models with white primer, then the blue spray. Depending on how dark it is, I'll either highlight up with Reaper's Ultramarine Triad, wash with Army Painter blue wash, wash with Paynes Grey, or some combination of the three. For army and squad markings, I'll probably use decals, which means I'll need to find some, which shouldn't be hard, and probably invest in micro-sol and set.

The real question is, given the third edition vintage of these models, do I paint them in modern gold trim and black bolters, or do I go gloriously old school with red bolter cases and yellow trim?

I got two rhinos more or less fully prepped:





The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/06/14 14:11:55


Post by: Albanyadriel


Old school Red Bolters FTW


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Old school Red Bolters FTW


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/06/14 19:54:30


Post by: Polonius


 Albanyadriel wrote:
Old school Red Bolters FTW


Lol, maybe I'll paint one of each and see how they grab me.

This lot included some MKI style rhinos, and also a MKI Vindicator, which I decided didn't fit in with the more modern marines, but would look great as second line units for my Emperor's Children. I gave the Vindie a nice bath, and it came out not too badly:



The astute among you will notice how awkwardly the side panels are sitting, They quickly fell off, revealing wads of glue that had to be chipped out with a dremel! However, I was able to reassemble the tank, and add some brass etch:





I'll be painting this bad boy up in a nice purple and gold to match my EC.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/06/16 22:53:16


Post by: GrimDork


Ooh. Quite a load of work you've got there. I just about can't get myself to strip and clean old models anymore, so I respect your determination.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/06/20 13:37:48


Post by: Polonius


 GrimDork wrote:
Ooh. Quite a load of work you've got there. I just about can't get myself to strip and clean old models anymore, so I respect your determination.


Lol, yeah, about halfway through a weekend spent scrubbing, rinsing, drying, disassembling, filing, and reassembling 15 year old models I realized that I was spending more time on these figures than they were probably worth, especially given my ability to work for straight time overtime. Still, I was finally watching seasons seven and eight of the Office on Netflix and enjoying myself a lot more than if I worked and bought the models at retail. It's definitely not something I'd be wild about doing a lot though!

Out of the piles of stuff, I was able to just about squeeze a demi-company, with enough bodies to build about 20 more marines. I'm going to be on the lookout for more heavy weapons and sergeant bitz, but for now, I have something at least playable.

Stripped and rebuilt models, squad by squad:

Tactical Squad. The lascannon was from my bitz box, and wasn't stripped.


Tactical Squad. A tac sarge with powerfist, because 3rd edition was the best!


Tactical Squad. I think a multi-melta is really amore appropriate here, but I worked with what I have


Devestator Squad. Speaking of working with what I had, check out that sexy monopose 2nd edition missile Launcher!


Assault Squad. More than any other, these models required rebuilding. Many of them had been glued to the base by the heel of the plant foot, not the toe, given them an "Emperor's Limbo" vibe. For some reason, these models also had the most "creative" conversions. About 14 assault marines boiled down to the 10 you see here, and it would have been fewer if I hadn't gone with flamers.


Captain. hey, remember this model? It was the coolest thing back in the day, even if the most natural approach for assembly was essentially identical to the metal models of the time, it was a cool multipart hero that lead to... nothing, actually. I guess the Chaos terminator hero kit, but the plastic Warboss never arrived, and most other characters can now be built out of regular plastics. Still, cool model.



The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/06/20 17:20:25


Post by: GrimDork


Very nice progress . I don't envy you painting all those marines though, can't get myself to paint them anymore. Looks like a nice start to a force though!


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/06/21 12:45:23


Post by: Polonius


 GrimDork wrote:
Very nice progress . I don't envy you painting all those marines though, can't get myself to paint them anymore. Looks like a nice start to a force though!


I don't have high hopes for how nicely painted the army will be. I want it to look good on the tabletop, but it's going to be a speed paint.

My secret weapon:



I figure a nice coat of that over a white primer will give me a fantastic base. Pick out the shoulder pad rims and chest eagles in yellow, bolter cases in red, and barrel/clip in gunmetal. I'm not sure if I'll do a full wash, or target specific areas (armor with AP blue quickshade, metal with black, skin with sepia). Paint the areas between armor plates black, and they'll look sharp. I'll worry about decals/squad markings late...

I was able to give the army a nice white base coat:



The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/06/21 20:38:40


Post by: GrimDork


That sounds like a plan! They came out quite nice from the primer.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/06/21 23:36:35


Post by: JoshInJapan


Do you need blue primer over white? I have a can of the same stuff for my son's training Marines, and it seemed to give good coverage and take paint pretty well without a separate undercoat.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/06/22 00:04:41


Post by: Polonius


 JoshInJapan wrote:
Do you need blue primer over white? I have a can of the same stuff for my son's training Marines, and it seemed to give good coverage and take paint pretty well without a separate undercoat.


I didn't want to risk it for two reasons. First, a good number of the models have pewter components, and I wasn't sure how well the blue would adhere. Second, with varying layers of paint, I figured white primer would give me a blank slate.

I just don't trust them as primer, but I might try it for later models if it worked for you.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/06/22 02:47:59


Post by: JoshInJapan


That's fair. I pretty much never use sprays, so I don't know if there is any difference in adherence between plastic and metal.

Looking forward to more WIP shots!


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/06/22 05:54:24


Post by: evildrcheese


Wow what a project. They've turned out quite nice so far, looking forward to seeing them with with some blue.

EDC


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/06/22 10:00:30


Post by: Azazelx


Yep, just seeing them get to this stage is pretty cool.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/06/24 02:48:53


Post by: FabricatorGeneralMike



This is glorious. I love seeing a good strip and re-painting.

When you said the mk1's didn't fit it I was going to ask if you where going to get rid of them....then I saw you had EC's so...I can't wait to see them painted up


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/06/26 06:02:01


Post by: Polonius


 evildrcheese wrote:
Wow what a project. They've turned out quite nice so far, looking forward to seeing them with with some blue.

EDC


The first squad all blue:




I found it hard to get a really good coat. I'm glad I primed the models, so I can hit the crevices with paint.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/06/26 11:16:43


Post by: GrimDork


I have trouble getting a comprehensive coat with rattle can primer too. Looking more and more like ultras.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/06/26 23:52:04


Post by: JoshInJapan


Thank goodness for 100% match, amiright?


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/06/27 07:36:32


Post by: evildrcheese


Very efficient blue-ing.

If only there was a quick way to do all the details...

EDC


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/06/27 21:27:46


Post by: Polonius


I was reasonably productive over the weekend, and after some trial and error, I think I might have a color scheme!

First, I filled in the armor joins with charcoal, including between the backpack and the vents:



I then touched up the blue with the 100% match paint, and threw a dark brown layer on the base:



I then based the weapons with RMS Gory Red, and hit the metal components with old reliable VGC Gunmetal:



My first dead end was basing the yellow trim with RMS Marigold Yellow, which I thought would be warm and orange enough.



I added some RMS Fair Shadow (another dead end) and a wash of Army Painter blue Quickshade (ditto)



With the base painted brown and the yellow highlighted with RMS Sun Yellow, here's the first run:



The blue is too bright, and the yellow is way too yellow.

To fix the blue, I washed the whole model with a Paynes Grey wash: a healthy dollop of Payne's Grey ink, some water, and some flow release: Payne's grey is a very dark blue, and while it can bring out nearly any color, it makes the blue pop.



To fix the yellow, I recoat the trim with RMS Orange.



I highlight the yellow with Golden Acrylic Diarylide Yellow (a semi transparent bright yellow), and the bolters with RMS Fresh Blood. Overall, I'm really happy with the look:




The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/07/01 16:40:30


Post by: Polonius


Moving onto squad two, I am taking advantage of my simplified approach to make some pretty decent progress.

Blued and blacked:



Base coated:



Post Payne's Grey wash:



I also have two rhinos nicely blued up, with black on the tracks and some Payne's Grey over the gaps:



I blocked the Ultramarines blue back in, then highlighted the edges. It's subtle, but I'm probably not going to go back:





The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/07/05 14:15:35


Post by: Polonius


Some more progress!

Squad #3 is just getting started:



Squad #2 is almost there:



And Squad #1 was dull coted and had flock added:



I finished a few other side projects, including the post apocalyptic civilians from Wreck-Age:





I got this guy as a gift from merry olde England. He's a Salute exclusive model, and I'm pretty sure the first 54mm model I've ever painted. I like how the very limited palette worked out, but the model on the whole is really kind of unsettling. I'm not sure what to do with it



Digging through some boxes, I found this really cool Imperial Preacher, which after a tour through Stuff of Legends I realized is actually a Daemonhunters Heirophant. Still, a model like this really sums up the crazy that is the grim darkness of the far future: religious talismans, over the top weapons, and a look of unhinged malevolence.





The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/08/01 18:42:44


Post by: Polonius


It's time for a two thirds of the year summary! Tomorrow I'll post some pictures of my rehabbed marines, but today I want to look back at what I've accomplished so far. I'm pleased to say I completed my three main hobby goals by May! While I still have some unbuilt Ogres floating around, I completed the Mega Armies. Admittedly, I'd gotten a lot of the prep work done last winter, but 61 Ogres and 80 Goblins is a lot of painting, even if they were already build and primed! I also painted 42 Bolt Action Germans, for what was basically a complete, if non-optimized army. I have 20 Blitzkrieg German plastics, but as I had bought them for cheap mostly to get the prone models for MMGs and Snipers, I'm not worried about them. My Privateer Press is utterly fully painted, with 20 models complete. I painted the 20 man 30k Tactical Squad I bought a year ago, as well as two apothecaries I recently grabbed, for 22 models. finally, 17 Deadzone models, two Salute event exclusives, some Wreck-Age Post Apocalyptic survivors, and a single 40k Imperial Priest bring us up to speed.

For those not keeping score, that's 251 models, which even with 80 of them being very basic gobbos, is a good bit of work. I have some more projects ready to come off the table, with a lot of progress made on my rehabilitated Ultramarines, and a few side models that were a fun diversion.

Looking forward, I want to finish up what I've build of the Ultras. So far I've assembled a full 50 man demi-company, a captain, a dread, and an Attack bike. The Demi Company is coming in for a landing, but I don't have any pictures. Well, I do have some pics of a single squad I'd entered in my Tale of Many Gamers Pledge:



I went into this project knowing nothing about decals, and now I am a true convert to Micro Sol and Micro Set. I've also added Future Floor Wax to my arsenal. Kronk, a handsome and generous DCM, hooked me up with some of the decals and banners you see, and I've found more on eBay.

Once I move past the Ultramarines, it's back to the Horus Heresy, as I've finally ordered the EC shoulderpads for my betrayal at Calth box. For now I'm going to build a second 20 man tactical squad, and leave the other 10 unbuilt until I see where I want to go with the army. The terminators I might just build for fun, and the Contemptor (#4 for the army ) will get painted out of obligation.

Once I get past the power armor though, I'm ready to dive into the mother of all projects: adding unto, and possibly even repainting, my Imperial Guard! I found my box with almost 200 praetorians, unpainted, and I'm going to raise two more full platoons with heavy weapons! I also did a little shopping at a local bitz swap:



Not a bad haul for $110!



The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/08/29 14:12:44


Post by: Polonius


I've been a bit busy lately, but I haven't gotten anything actually done until very recently. Presented for your enjoyment are my second tactical squad:



And an assault squad:



And then came a tragedy of errors. I had started putting decals on my devastators, when I noticed that I had put tactical squad markings on them, not the devastator markings. Oh well, time to scrape, repaint, and re seal with future. I also discovered a bag with Rhino bitz, including the accessory sprue, which meant I could add stormbolters to my Rhinos. Of course, they had been more or less fully painted, as seen in the background here:



So, time to dig out the drill, knife, and files!



It's a pain in the ass, but I love me some WYIWYG!


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/09/05 08:10:41


Post by: Azazelx


Great work here - Second Edition Ultras back with a vengeance!


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/09/05 09:14:19


Post by: evildrcheese


Nice work on the Ultras, really digging the Tac and Assault squad. A real shame you put the wrong transfers on the devs...

EDC


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/09/05 11:47:34


Post by: Stormwall


Those are some good looking Marines!


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/09/06 20:33:45


Post by: Polonius


Azazelx wrote:Great work here - Second Edition Ultras back with a vengeance!


Very technically, they're all early third edition models. But the 2nd company didn't switch to Gold trim until mid to late 3rd edition, but definitely by the 4th edition codex.

evildrcheese wrote:Nice work on the Ultras, really digging the Tac and Assault squad. A real shame you put the wrong transfers on the devs...

EDC


It's not too bad. I'm throwing endless coats of Microsol on them now with the correct decals, so I'll have some pics up shortly.

Stormwall wrote:Those are some good looking Marines!


Thanks! I'm having a lot of fun, and I think the pseudo-heraldric nature of this paint scheme works better with my paint style than a grim-dark realistic approach.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/09/07 18:15:16


Post by: Polonius


A few actual updates!

The Rhinos, now with actual storm bolter! I feel like the pop of red really ties the rhino together, in a weird way:



A plastic captain. I tried the new technical gemstone paints out on this guy, and they're awesome! I hit the gemstone on his chest, and the eyes of the backpack eagles.



Devestators with correct squad markings! They still need some microsol, and dull coting, and the actual squad numbers, but they're basically fully painted.



And, don't forget the 0-1 options for the demi-company... here's an old school, all pewter dreadnought. I couldn't find the smoke launchers or banner pole, so if anybody has those parts their looking sell, let me know.



The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/09/08 23:40:10


Post by: Azazelx


 Polonius wrote:
Azazelx wrote:Great work here - Second Edition Ultras back with a vengeance!


Very technically, they're all early third edition models. But the 2nd company didn't switch to Gold trim until mid to late 3rd edition, but definitely by the 4th edition codex.


Yep, they're the 3rd Edition multipart plastics. It's just that the bright yellow and Aquila armour will always say "2nd Edition" to me. (even though the move to MK7 and brightness happend at the end of the RT era)

The new recruits look great as well.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/09/12 12:27:12


Post by: Polonius


When I began my major rehabilitation project, half the vehicles were the older MK I style, and I decided that I wanted my Ultramarines to use the newer kits. Instead, I broke out my Emperor's Children Brass etch and turned them into second line vehicles for my 30k force:

Rhinos:





The original Vindicator, which has held up amazingly as a model!





I also finally started painting my Betrayal at Calth Tactical marines. When you're army planning, 30 marines doesn't seem like all that much, but when they're sitting on your painting table they're quite the project! I decided to simplify my approach, and base painted them all with a mix of the Reaper Nightshade Purple (a near black) and Imperial Purple.



My goal going forward will be to layer Imperial Purple, and then maybe hit some highlights with Imperial/Amethyst Purple.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/09/17 19:20:07


Post by: Azazelx


Nice work there. It certainly works to move the old-school original Rhinos to one specific force, especially a Heresy-era one.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/09/18 02:50:01


Post by: Stormwall


That vindicator is looking swell, and I agree putting the older rhinos with a HH force is a good idea.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/09/19 14:48:32


Post by: Polonius


Azazelx wrote:Nice work there. It certainly works to move the old-school original Rhinos to one specific force, especially a Heresy-era one.


Stormwall wrote:That vindicator is looking swell, and I agree putting the older rhinos with a HH force is a good idea.


Thanks. I didn't want to combine the two, although my EC will have both the FW Deimos pattern rhinos and the MKI hulls, They're probably more going to be fated for second line duties. The vindicator is too cool a model to not find a use for.

I finally completed the Devestator squad, which was the last full squad needed for my first demi-company:



I also finished the captain, who is resplendent in all of his third edition glory:







One interesting fact here is that I used the new GW gemstone technical paints, and I really liked how they look. The green gen on his chest, the eyes of the backpack eagles, and even the power nodes on the sword are all hit with one of them.

I still have a few coats of Micro-sol to put on the dreadnought before it gets sealed and flocked, but I'm basically done with the core elements of the demi-company. I know I need two more dedicated transports, but with the Gladius formation being so popular used prices on DTs is surprisingly high. I might work through all the infantry I have, and then either buy a larger lot off ebay, or even just buy what I need new from Mini Market.

In the meantime, I'm making progress painting my Betrayal at Calth tactical marines. After them, I have the BaC termies, contemptor, and characters, and then four FW characters, and all of my EC stuff will be fully painted. As always, it feels good to see the end of a project.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/09/30 21:39:48


Post by: Polonius


I turned my attention back to my Emperor's Children, with the Betrayal at Calth tactical marines forming my CCW equipped tacticals:





The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/10/07 19:33:16


Post by: JohnHwangDD


I am loving the results from Army Painter. Also, pre-basing before priming.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/10/08 05:38:10


Post by: Azazelx


Great work on those Emperor's Children!


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/10/17 15:59:10


Post by: Polonius


Today's update is a bit scattered. I built and I'm working on the last of my EC from Betrayal at Calth, but hubris got the best of me. I declared them done, only to realize that I had forgotten the plastic Contemptor! I haven't taken the final pics, because I actually want to do an army glamor shot, so hopefully a teaser shot will do for now:



There's a store RTT on Saturday, and I'm kicking around the idea of going. With the Ultras not really up to 1850, that leaves my poor IG, or I guess AM. The more time I spend looking at that codex, the less excited I am to play IG in anything approaching a competitive environment. Still, tournaments are great motivators, and I had whipped up a list that included three vendettas as the only armor, but included a ton of psykers. The downside is that it included a battery of three earthshaker carriages, which meant it was time to pull the models I bought at the Adepticon Bitz Swap out of storage, clean them up, reassemble them, and start painting!

These had been painted with what I can only imagine was blue automotive primer. A long soak in LA's Totally Awesome loosened much of it, but there was a lot in the nooks and crannies. OH, and by the way, these models are nothing but nooks and crannies. Being used, and honestly probably not FW originals, they had some parts that needed repairs. All three got a simple drilled steel rod so the gun barrel can move up and down. All in all, it took a few hours, but they came out pretty decently:



A quick prime, followed by multiple passes with touch up primer, helps them look far cleaner:



And now comes the fun part: base coating a model with nearly inaccessible parts! I painted the wheels Boltgun, and the rest XV88. I gave it one coat so far:



My plan is to touch up the XV88, and then hit it with a dark, hard wash. the advantage to the nooks and crannies is that once base painted, a wash and dry brush back up should look great quickly.



The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/10/19 14:18:58


Post by: Polonius


Some updates to my Artillery:

A second coat of XV88:



A nice wash with a homemade, relatively thin brown wash:



A dry brush with RMS Green Ochre:



A final dry brush with RMS Faded Khaki, and some red on the Aquilla.





Automatically Appended Next Post:
I also painted the last of the EC models I have on hand. First up, the BAC terminators and hero:



Then the BAC Chaplain, which I feel is an underrated model



The BAC Contemptor, hiding with his friends:



Standard Bearer and Consul with Thunder hammer:



Praetor and Master of Signals:



Praetor with Jump Pack:



And then, while not completely new, I reconfigured one tactical squad to be a veteran squad with melta gun and missile launcher:





finally, some group shots of my complete (for now) Emperor's children army!





The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/10/19 16:40:00


Post by: JohnHwangDD


Nice work!


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/10/19 16:48:43


Post by: Stormwall


That headswap on the BAC Chaplain is enough to convince me to get him. What a lovely model, it really is under-rated.

Really digging the Proteus Land Raider, (I know I've said that previously.)

The Dreadnoughts and the Master of Signals is looking quite nice as well.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/10/19 17:25:13


Post by: Polonius


Stormwall wrote:That headswap on the BAC Chaplain is enough to convince me to get him. What a lovely model, it really is under-rated.

Really digging the Proteus Land Raider, (I know I've said that previously.)

The Dreadnoughts and the Master of Signals is looking quite nice as well.


Yeah, I wouldn't have pegged the head as the reason the model looked off, but looking at the stock model vs. mine, I think just a slight repositioning of the head really helps. I now like it enough that if (when ) I buy a second B@C box, I'll likely turn the model into something else, like a champion or other consul.

the Proteus is a cool model, but I'm mad at myself for ordering the landraider EC doors, when it takes the rhino doors. So, very technically, they aren't done, as I need to get the correct insignia on the Proteus.

The Master of Signals is just an old fashioned character model: some nice details and gubbins, and a pose that relates to his battle field role instead of looking like a generically heroic pose (possibly a reason I dig the chaplain... he looks like he's actually tracking an enemy and shooting his pistol).


JohnHwangDD wrote:Nice work!


Thanks!


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/10/27 12:26:16


Post by: Polonius


I've been working on a few things, including crew for my new artillery:



This is a departure from my old (meaning since 2002) paint scheme for the praetorians. I switched from khaki trousers to dark blue, and I've switched to Reaper master series for the reds and yellows. This requires multiple layers, but also is a much richer shade. the other big change is the switch to white kit, which looks sharp! I made some of my choices 14 years ago because I wanted my stuff to look different, but over time, I've realized that there's a very rewarding, natural color scheme to these models.

Next up are a Master of Ordinance, an Astropath, and a Medic:



I picked up the two advisors at a swap meet, and since I already have a complete set, there's little reason to have a second Officer of the Fleet. Astropaths, otoh, are a fun way to add psychic dice to the army for 25 points! The Medic is a Chronoscope model, and I think brings a touch of whimsy to the army. While she's a little more 20th century and less steampunk than I'd like, I think she'll fit in nicely with a command squad.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/10/30 04:10:57


Post by: Polonius


I got a lot of prep work done recently. It's fall, which means it's time to focus on building and priming models to paint through the winter. Not only does winter make spray priming tough for apartment dwellers, it's also a time for week long trips to see family. That means painting time!

First up is a continuation of something teased a few months back: bases for forge world heavy mortars. I grabbed four of these at the Adepticon swap meet in 2015, and I'm glad I'm finally getting them ready for the table top. One of my true gaming joys is to run all infantry IG armies, and the artillery gives me a durable and hard hitting unit. While the multi mortars are probably better, I didn't see them for $8 a piece



At the same time I bought the mortars, I had grabbed an old battle for skull pass box, planning to use the goblins for kings of war. That project is on indefinite hold, as the thought of painting a couple hundred night goblins is... sobering. Still, I had a handful of dwarves that I planned on trading away, until last week, when I snapped up a box of 6th edition warriors for $15. Now I have a core of an Age of Sigmar army, even if I've never played the game.


I primed them with army painter Fur Brown, as I'm going to speed paint these little guys:



I decided to play up the dispossessed theme, and go with mostly drab browns and greens, with a richer green and gold as the heraldry to tie the together.






The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/11/04 19:26:34


Post by: sparkywtf


Great job on everything!


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/11/04 19:53:54


Post by: Polonius


sparkywtf wrote:
Great job on everything!


Thanks!

I've been darting all over the place lately, and I completed a few amusing side projects, so I figured I'd share some stuff. First up is a series of minis I've painted as Christmas gifts. My mother, bless her heart, really likes when I paint her minis, and likes two things in particular: cycles or collections of basic themes, mostly notably the four elements, and the Reaper Christmas minis. So, here are some things I'd collected over the years that are close to it. I'd already painted her one of the old chaos warriors in purple for slaanesh, so that's why it's missing!

Khorne Chaos Warrior:


Tzeetnch Chaos Warrior:



Nurgle Chaos Warrior


Undivided Chaos Warrior:


Reaper Dust Devil (that's a type of air elemental, right?)


Halloween Sophie:


Pin up Sophie:


Some REaper Bones Scenery:



Finally, a peek at some current WIP. A plastic Dark Elf Sorceress, I think she was from Talisman? I'm going for an old school drow look.


And an OOP Hellhound, to be painted up using my new Savannah Brown layers as shown above on the Earthshaker Carriages. The real question is if I stick with strips like I have on my old Praetorian tanks?


For comparison, here is my legacy paint scheme (it's a chimera, not a hellhound, but they're close enough)


I think I'im going to avoid the hull stripes, but I'll probably be investing in some decals to have more points of interest on the tanks.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/11/15 20:14:39


Post by: Polonius


I was able to prime the heavy mortars with emplacements:



I laid down the first base coat which has helped differentiate the turf from the wooden planks:



I've been on the road for a few days, and I'm staying with a buddy. We want to try out Deadzone, which I pledged in the first Kickstarter, but never tried in first edition. An FLGS here in Cleveland had a second edition starter for 30% off, so I grabbed it for the physical rulebook, command dice, and play mat. Actually playing Deadzone requires building the terrain, so I got to work. I'd heard that mantic didn't provide enough connectors, and that is shamefully true. I have a good chunk of the walls left, and no more angles connectors. It's bizarre to me that they would market a product that leaves multiple wall sprue useless for lack of a simple half sprue of connectors. Mantic... Almost.

Still, the terrain looks pretty cool in a prefab, boxy style:



Finally, to help thank my buddy for putting me up, I painted his guildball alchemists for him. He them in primarily Cygnar colors, with green "magic." He's also going to base them more fully later. I think I nailed it pretty well, even if the faces aren't great:



The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/12/12 14:58:15


Post by: Polonius


I've been working on a job lot of different things. I painted up a bunch of marines while on the road in November, and then took them to my in-laws for decal application over thanksgiving. I get there, and realize I left my micro sol/set at home. Soon after we return to Baltimore, I realize I had left my Future Polish at the in-laws!

So... no updates on the Ultramarines. I have a new bottle of polish and I'll be applying some decals this month, but I've been working on some fun other projects in the interim. I built and primed five used chimeras, and then reassembled a Valkyrie, a Taurox, and a LR Destroyer. I got 32 Boer War Boers from Black Tree, which I've based up and I'll be using as conscripts. I also cleaned, assembled, and based 60 Kasrkin that need primed.

I did put a brush on a few things. First up are the Mortars:



I finally decided that I want to try some weathering, so here's a mortar with some chipped paint and mud/dust. I'll be adding some pigment after I seal it.



Finally, here's the set in their happy homes:



I also applied some paint chipping to an OOP Hellhound, and I really like the effect:



The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/12/12 20:00:07


Post by: JoshInJapan


Good job on the chipping/weathering. I always shy away from doing it myself because I'm afraid that I'll ruin the paint job. I admire your bravery.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/12/13 00:23:57


Post by: Polonius


The underlying paint scheme was pretty simple, and more critically, monochromatic. I simply followed the GW video on weathering and it turned out great, albeit far better on the hellhound than on the mortars.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/12/13 06:05:40


Post by: Stormwall


Really digging that hellhound, looks great Pol!


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/12/13 06:24:31


Post by: evildrcheese


Well haven't you been busy! Mortars and weathering are looking great, you just need to paint those 5 Chimeras now

EDC



The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/12/24 22:31:12


Post by: Azazelx


Damn, you've been busy! So much good stuff here. The Hellhound looks great. I've got one of those myself that has been half-painted for many, many years. I really like the progress on the Earthshaker battery, and the mortars look fantastic in their emplacements.

The Imperial Advisors look great as well. I might have to track down that Chronoscope nurse for similar duties next time I do a Reaper order. I always enjoy checking out old-school Chaos Warriors. Where did you get the shields on those guys?

Funny to see you working on BFSP Dwarves. I've got about 40 of the same on my paint desk as well, really close to completion, which I'm going to try and push through and finish before the new year.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2016/12/25 19:01:42


Post by: Polonius


evildrcheese wrote:Well haven't you been busy! Mortars and weathering are looking great, you just need to paint those 5 Chimeras now

EDC



That's on the docket, but I'm not sure when I'll get to them. They've been strippped, rebuilt, and primed black, so that shouldn't take too long. Still, I'm trying to stick with a "last in, first out" strategy. I find that it helps me stay focused to only buy models, especially new projects, if I have to work on them next. And in a preview of coming attractions, look what I got for Christmas:



Azazelx wrote:Damn, you've been busy! So much good stuff here. The Hellhound looks great. I've got one of those myself that has been half-painted for many, many years. I really like the progress on the Earthshaker battery, and the mortars look fantastic in their emplacements.

The Imperial Advisors look great as well. I might have to track down that Chronoscope nurse for similar duties next time I do a Reaper order. I always enjoy checking out old-school Chaos Warriors. Where did you get the shields on those guys?

Funny to see you working on BFSP Dwarves. I've got about 40 of the same on my paint desk as well, really close to completion, which I'm going to try and push through and finish before the new year.


The old hellhound is one of the great counter arguments against the hate that plastic metal hybrids tend to cause. It's a great piece that looks completely different with only a few metal components. The hellhound is also a tragic unit, with amazing models (original, FW, current) but underwhelming rules.

The mortars really do look neat, I've got the crew primed up and ready to paint, so it'll be nice to have them done soonish.

The chaos warrior shields came with the models in a used bin, so I'm not sure where they are from originally. I'd guess dwarf or wood elf, but a quick glance through Stuff of Legends comes up blank. For all I know, they aren't even GW!


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/01/02 17:37:16


Post by: Polonius


2016 Year in Review!

I want to thank everybody that's been reading, and I appreciate all the comments. 2016 was a great hobby year for me, with multiple projects completed and 376 total minis painted! sure, 80 Mantic goblins helped to boost that number, but it was a very productive year.

Some of the highlights were:











2016 was a fantastic hobby year for me, in terms of completing projects, which I define as having only superfluous or minor units left, usually less than 10% of what is painted. Basically, I don't think you need to paint literally 100% of all the models for an army for it to be "complete," but what's unpainted must be trivial compared to what is painted. Under that standard, the following projects were completed last year:
KoW Ogres: I easily doubled the size of the army, and knocked out two Mega Forces from the kickstarter.
Bolt Action Germans: I added over 1000 points, and I also got way better at camo!
Cygnar: I finished up from odds and ends, and the army includes every pre-MKIII model
30k EC: I added over 60 infantry models

I did a lot of work on two other projects as well:
Ultramarines: originally a rehab project, I've been adding to the original lot in order to eventually field a Gladius. One full demi-company is complete, with another 30 some models painted but waiting on decals and basing. This is a priority both for logistics reasons and because it should lead to a reasonably effective 40k army!
Praetorians: my first and largest army, the IG actually got some love this year, with some artillery and characters. This will be major long term goal for 2017.

The only project I added in 2016 were Bolt Action British, and they were a Christmas gift from the in-laws. I plan to do them as a Polish Armored Division, so look for them to get off the ground this month. I did add significantly to the IG pile, with nine new vehicles and 65 Kasrkin.

For me, 2017 will be a hobby success if I start and complete the Brits, have a fully painted Ultramarine gladius, and I complete the currently built IG stuff (40 man blob, artillery crew, 60 Kasrkin, 5 chimeras, valkyrie, taurox, LR Destroyer) As a stretch goal, I'd add a second IG platoon, eight heavy weapon squads, and a sentinel squadron.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/01/02 17:45:55


Post by: brushcommando


Congratulations on a great year! Really liked your ultras.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/01/05 11:21:52


Post by: Azazelx


Very impressive output there mate - it's clearly been a very successful year!


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/01/29 04:27:33


Post by: Polonius


Time for a long awaited update! Due to bad weather, I've been unable to dullcote or prime, so I couldn't really start much, or finish much. With a few breaks, I'm back on track. I'll be writing updates with some of my built stuff later, today is all about the completed ultramarines!

A terminator squad. this is a mix of plastic and metals, and you really can't tell other than by feel:



Additional heavy weapons, because at one point, you could take two heavies even at five men



Libby Terminator of 2nd edition vintage:





Terminator Captain of late 3rd edition vintage:



The legendary 3rd edition terminator Chaplain, I noted that this model is still sold by GW in Finecast, and there's a reason. It's just an amazing model. (this is metal though! )



Classic librarian. I didn't have a libby banner, but his backpack had a banner pole, so I made one out of decals. I painted over the axe to match the force weapon colors of arcane blue and orange.



Apothecary, another model that holds its own 20 years later.



A few heavy weapons, and one of my all time favorite models: the 3rd edition metal command squad sergeant. I think he really nails the role of a devastator sarge, so I modeled him up for my as yet unbuilt second dev squad.



A gladius friendly tactical squad, with combi-melta and melta gun:


And finally, two gladius friendly assault squads. These are actually metal bodies with the old BP/CCW arms attached.





The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/01/29 12:44:29


Post by: Nevelon


Nice to see some old lead getting some love. And more Ultras are always a good thing!


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/01/31 13:55:39


Post by: Polonius


I've been busier than just painting a few ultramarines in the last month though. I have my Bolt Action Brits completely built and ready for priming:



I also built and primed a 40 man "blob platoon," which fluff wise I'll be calling a shock platoon, with four meltas, plus a PCS with four grenade launchers. Also included are the crews for the heavy mortars:



For a more elite look, I have 50 primed Kasrkin, with four 10 man squads each with two plasma, a 5 man squad with meltas, and a PCS with four meltas:



Also stripped, rebuilt, and primed, are five chimeras:



I have plenty of work to do!


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/01/31 15:01:26


Post by: brushcommando


Are those praetorians I see?


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/01/31 17:28:29


Post by: kronk


Great job! Get that gak painted!

The Terminator Chaplain is still one of my favorite sculpts from the GeeDubyas.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/01/31 17:31:40


Post by: Nevelon


That’s a ton of stuff primed and ready. Good luck with that!


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/01/31 22:30:49


Post by: Polonius


brushcommando wrote:Are those praetorians I see?


They are! I have a very large army that I painted from 2003-2012, and I'm finally finishing it, albeit with a slightly different color scheme.

The new scheme:
Spoiler:


kronk wrote:Great job! Get that gak painted!

The Terminator Chaplain is still one of my favorite sculpts from the GeeDubyas.


It caused quite a stir when it was released, and it's held up, especially for those of us that favor a slightly chunkier, less baroque look. There's clear sense of menace to the model without it getting silly with skulls and cherubs


Nevelon wrote:That’s a ton of stuff primed and ready. Good luck with that!


I'm a swift painter. My stuff doesn't always look amazing, but I can churn out models.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/02/06 14:33:19


Post by: Polonius


I'm actually making some progress on the Kasrkins. I toyed with a few different paint schemes, including a Gulf War era chocholate chip camo pattern, before deciding to go with a simple, Green on Green scheme that should contrast very nicely with the Praetorians. You have steampunk, formal uniforms next to high tech gear in olive drab. Here's the models in base colors:



Give them all a nice wash with AP Strong Tone:



And a close up of one of the models:




The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/02/09 15:19:31


Post by: Polonius


I was able to complete my first squad of Kasrkin:







Overall, I'm very happy with how they came out. I'm less excited realizing I have 40 more to paint, but I've already got a good start on squads two and three"



The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/02/24 15:46:59


Post by: Polonius


I've been hard at work, doing more painting (and paint stripping, and disassembling/reassembling) than blogging, so I'll share some pictures of two more complete Kasrkin squads. Both are plasma armed, but one squad has a grenade launcher sideboard. You know, for when plasma Scions are too hard, and I want to tone them down.





Soon I'll be posting some picture of my other project: painting vehicles for an inquisitorial detachment.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/03/12 20:47:19


Post by: Polonius


I've been busy since I last posted, so let me bring you up to speed. I'll be playing in a 1000pt friendly event at Adepticon, and I want to play some 3rd edition style Daemonhunters. With all of my beautiful new Kasrkin, I don't need my old, 3rd edition stormtroopers anymore, so it's time for a bath in the strip bucket. A final picture of them in their old glory:



Some additional charactars I might use. The old Cadian commander I think is going to work great as a Tempestus Prime, while the Eversor has a slot in my list:



And post bath and priming, here's the first of several "stormtrooper"squads (really IG veterans with carapace armor... three special weapons FTW)



I backed a kickstarter for a small minis line call Astropolis, and I figured the models would be useful. I'm calling these two Jaekero weaponsmiths and three servitors for my henchman warband.



Failing that, I have some proper servitors, base coated and washed black:



A pyschic and the CCS for my IG:



The eversor post bath, and a Vindicaire I snapped up at a gaming auction a few weeks ago. (got him, 4 RT infantry, some valhalans, a cool commissar, and a praetorian bugler for $10!)


I painted these years ago, when I was using tan and brown for my inquisition stuff. I decided that I can save enough of the paint scheme to just repaint the uniforms, so voila, a trio of warriors with flamers:



These just needed a few details cleaned up and new flock, but they'll work for servo skulls:



I also took some old Chimeras I cleaned up, and added some FW brass etch. The bullet holes were courtesy of a prior owner. Chimera #1:







Chimera #2






Valkyrie:





The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/03/13 02:21:45


Post by: JohnHwangDD


 Polonius wrote:
With all of my beautiful new Kasrkin, I don't need my old, 3rd edition stormtroopers anymore, so it's time for a bath in the strip bucket.

Heresy! Just second them to your IG as Carapace Veterans.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/03/14 02:48:03


Post by: Polonius


 JohnHwangDD wrote:
 Polonius wrote:
With all of my beautiful new Kasrkin, I don't need my old, 3rd edition stormtroopers anymore, so it's time for a bath in the strip bucket.

Heresy! Just second them to your IG as Carapace Veterans.


they will be, just as carapace veteran in Daemonhunters colors!


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/03/14 04:04:59


Post by: JohnHwangDD


Ahh... OK. Carry on!


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/03/30 15:02:40


Post by: Polonius


I was able to complete some Inquisitorial Stormtroopers for adepticon. I played them in the thursday Gentleman's 40k event, which came with a bottle of Jameson!

A CCS with carapace, to represent Stormtrooper command:



Veteran squad with carapace and plasma guns, representing stormtrooper squad:


Veteran Squad with carapace and melta guns, representing stormtrooper squad:


Scions squads with melta guns, representing drop stormtroopers:





Primaris psyker and eversor assassin:


henchmen squad, with the freaks with flames counting as acolytes with flamers. the two mechs are jokaero, and the guys with wrenches are servitors. The robed figure is a psyker, while the priest is, well, a priest:


The actual inquisitor in Terminator armor, with psycannon and demon hammer:




The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/03/30 17:15:02


Post by: JohnHwangDD


Ahh... classic Daemonhunter leaning forward!


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/03/30 20:45:45


Post by: JoshInJapan


That's a nifty little army. I like the subdued colors on the stormtroopers. They look more like a real military force that way.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/04/11 01:20:49


Post by: Polonius


I'm getting through the post-adepticon slump, and getting some work done. I built and primed the last of my inquisitorial stormtroopers:



I found this guy at Adepticon, it's a model I've always wanted, and now I've got a good excuse to paint him up:



Also, I pulled out some old models to repaint for Shadow War, the Colonel Shafer's Last Chancers!



The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/04/11 06:02:37


Post by: evildrcheese


Nice job on the Stormtroopers. The GSC/Guard dudes are really cool .

EDC


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/04/15 14:44:20


Post by: Polonius


I'm trying to update more frequently, so here are some models I've stripped, built, and are ready to prime:

Two Inquisitors:



Three Assassins:



Some last Chancers. I have a full box, plus a handful of extra pieces.



Some grey knight terminators. One of the termies had a snapped off halbred, but I found some old thunderhammers, and turned it into a nemesis hammer.





The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/05/01 16:55:34


Post by: Polonius


I made some progress lately, and I finished my Inquisitorial Stormtroopers. I had painted two full squads, two five man squads, and the extra plasma guns for Adepticon, so all I needed to do was paint enough to fill out those squads. Howver, I also grabbed enough stuff to paint up a fifth full squad, so now I"m the proud owner of five full veteran squads with carapace!

Here are the new models:



Here is everybody all together:



that's a lot of metal!

I also finished the two rehabbed chimeras I'd built as transports for the stormtroopers:






Of course, with 8th edition on the horizon, I have no clue what I'll be using them as...


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/05/09 18:30:52


Post by: Polonius


If you were breathlessly waiting on pictures of my Last Chancers Shadow War kill team, today is your lucky day!

Here's an obnoxiously blurry pic of the whole thing:



Here's just a core Last Chancers box:



And some close ups:













The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/05/09 19:58:57


Post by: bogalubov


Cool to see a fellow hoarder of metal models. Those second edition storm troopers are my favorite. I just picked up around 30 to add to the 20 I already had.

Seeing the Last Chances together reminds me that I never took a picture after I assembled all of mine.

Keep up the great work!


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/05/09 20:22:34


Post by: Azazelx


Nice work on the Stormtroopers, and the Last Chancers have come up very nicely. I need to find and paint up my own set, now that 8th is a thing....


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/05/09 20:37:46


Post by: Polonius


Thanks! I'm very happy with how the cheesy 80's urban camo worked out. I also found jobs for my old tank crew models, and even a Victoria Minis beastman I got at adepticon!


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/05/11 21:57:45


Post by: Polonius


The current subject line for this thread is about Kasrkin, and I've finally finished the last of my Kasrkin squads, at least for now, before moving on to basic Praetorian Infantry. Here is the Command squad with meltas:



Five man scion squad with meltas:



10 man scion squad with meltas:



The full demi-company:







And for giggles: they are finally tucked neatly away in foam:


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/05/21 17:41:28


Post by: Polonius


Today I'm bring you some WIP progress shots. First up are the last of my Inquistorial henchmen and other goody models. Here's a few models with base colors:



And then again after my heavy black wash:



I'm also working on some Astra Militarum Praetorians, which I see being my main focus at least until 8th edition settles down. I have a full 40 man platoon primed, but I didn't include any heavy weapons. Under 8th, it looks like heavy weapons will be more valuable, hitting more often on the move, and providing far more punch. So I built up four heavy bolters. I also bought a pack of renedra sandbags, since so far my heavy weapon team bases have been pretty boring. I like the look!








The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/05/21 22:45:29


Post by: JoshInJapan


The Inquisitor and retinue are looking food so far. Also, the sandbags really liven up the heavy bolter bases.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/05/24 19:32:51


Post by: Polonius


I have some complete models for show and tell. First up are the big men themselves, the inquisitors. I'm pretty happy with how the withhunter looks, and pretty underwhelmed with the daemonhunter. If anybody has any advise on what's wrong with him, I'm all ears!





Do you like assassins? Of course you do!





Repping the death cult:



These lovely minis are from the Astropolis kickstarter from Lead Adventures. I don't have a specific use for them in mind, but they can serve as all manner of inquisitorial henchmen!





One actual GW Commissar, and two officers from the Astropolis set. It's swagger sticks on parade, at least until I take a non blocked shot of the fronts!



And finally, my complete Astropolis collection painted up:



The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/05/28 02:26:04


Post by: Azazelx


That's a lot of Kasrkin! They're going to look amazing on the tabletop. The Inquisitors/Assassins/Astropolis models have all come up really nicely. The Astros will fit in perfectly with the Unique and Odd look of so much of the Inquisition.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/05/29 19:52:26


Post by: Polonius


I'm finally looping back to the 40k project that started it all: my Praetorian IG... I mean, Astra Militarum. With 8th edition due out, I decided to dig out my unpainted models and add some new lads to my infantry company. However, I've decided that the old paint scheme hasn't held up, and I switched to the classic, standard scheme. While I plan on eventually, (someday), repainting all of my old models to match, I have plenty of new stuff to work on.

Starting with the crew of my heavy mortars and the four heavy bolters for a blob platoon:







The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/05/31 02:01:34


Post by: Polonius


I was able to finish the praetorians on my work bench. First up are some heavy bolter teams:







Next up we have some artillery crewmen, finally united with their heavy mortars:









And finally, a servo skull and Vindicaire that had been hiding, and finally got finished off:





Next up, I"m working on lasgun troopers from a 40 man blob platoon...



The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/05/31 09:52:49


Post by: Ketara


I like those heavy mortar bases!


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/06/01 23:22:28


Post by: Azazelx


Classic Praetorians are looking good! I never enen got started on mine back in the day. Maybe after seeing yours and 8th incoming I'll actually get them done?


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/06/02 02:24:14


Post by: Polonius


Ketara wrote:I like those heavy mortar bases!


Thanks, they were a bit of a PITA to build up, but I'm really happy with how they came out. Just matchsticks and glue!

Azazelx wrote:Classic Praetorians are looking good! I never enen got started on mine back in the day. Maybe after seeing yours and 8th incoming I'll actually get them done?


They're quite nice models. After collecting a ton and getting stuck in with them, I realized that I think the Cadian and Tallarn ranges were the real winners from the time, but really, all of the 2nd edition metal IG were fantastic. Even the catachans were much, much nicer in metal. There's probably no range GW makes in which there's a bigger gap between plastic and metal quality. The plastic Cadians are, at best, "fine."

Anyways, I'm always looking for more lads, so if you feel like parting with your Praetorians, let me know!


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/06/04 02:31:03


Post by: Polonius


I spent some time today at the gaming store, doing some painting. Despite having four heavy bolters already painted, I decided to just go ahead and paint all 40 men I had planned for the blob platoon. (The leaked index shows that AM squads can no longer combine, and heavy bolters now run 8pts per, and can move and shoot with -1 to hit, so I see little reason not to include a heavy weapon in each squad) Despite being such a large task, I was able to get through four colors: the scarlet base, the dark blue for the trousers, the orange base for the yellow braiding, and the dark brown of the weapon stocks.









The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/06/04 05:31:20


Post by: JoshInJapan


That's some pretty serious batch painting. I always liked the Praetorians, so I'm looking forward to seeing these all finished.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/06/05 02:04:18


Post by: Polonius


 JoshInJapan wrote:
That's some pretty serious batch painting. I always liked the Praetorians, so I'm looking forward to seeing these all finished.


thanks, it's a lot to chew at once... I'll probably aim more modestly in the future. I was able to spend some serious time today painting, so I got all of them base painted, as well as washed. Here's a group pic, and close up, of the models pre-wash.





The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/06/06 17:45:23


Post by: Polonius


I applied the various washes to the praetorians. I usually paint over black primer, which adds an inherent depth to models, so working off a white primer means I'm much more judicious with my washes. Instead of using one general, "all over" wash, I actually targeted washes to areas. Red and yellow got a strong red wash, skin and the pith helmet can flesh wash, the trousers and the webbing got Paynes Grey, the lasguns got black wash, and the boots got a layer of uncut black ink. I still have some high light layers, but they're rounding into form:





The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/06/08 01:05:31


Post by: JoshInJapan


Looking good.!


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/06/15 20:40:03


Post by: Polonius


I finished my first Praetorian platoon in about ten years, right around the time that Platoons stopped being a tangible aspect of the Astra Militarum rules! When I built and primed these guys, they were going to be a large blob squad, without heavy weapons. With the switch to 8th edition, blobs no longer exist, and there seems to be little reason not to slide heavy weapons. the heavy bolters shown above are going to fit in, which leaves me with an extra eight lasgunners. I resisted the urge to only paint 32 men, and isntead I painted them all:

https://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/883792-.html?m=2

The core 32 men:



The platoon with heavy bolters:



The command squad:



the platoon commander:




A Sergeant:





A flamer



Lasgunners:













The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/06/15 22:51:31


Post by: JoshInJapan


That platoon is spectacular-- the heck with camouflage, regimental pride will protect us! Also, I love that gigantic old-school flamer.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/06/16 19:58:19


Post by: bogalubov


Great stuff! Makes me inspired to paint some more Valhallans.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/06/16 22:25:24


Post by: Azazelx


They've come up excellently, old boy!


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/07/17 20:21:48


Post by: Polonius


I apologize for not posting more. I haven't been taking a lot of pictures, and then I've been a little derailed by life. Anyway, I do have some WIP pictures of my first Taurox. It's ready for decals and weathering:









The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/07/18 01:16:57


Post by: JohnHwangDD


Every time I see a Taurox, I just have to laugh at how cartoony it is. It's a GI Joe toy!


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/07/18 12:43:56


Post by: Polonius


 JohnHwangDD wrote:
Every time I see a Taurox, I just have to laugh at how cartoony it is. It's a GI Joe toy!


the more I work with it, the more I like it. I think the only irredeemable part from an aesthetics standpoint are the tracks, which are goofy and add a lot of unnecessary height to the model. I also think that the version that were painted by the studio had unflattering color schemes, which really emphasized the cartoony aspect. I'm hoping with some weathering they look better.

And they do look good with the aftermarket wheels, but that makes them about $75 a pop, which is too spendy for me!


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/07/18 23:03:12


Post by: JohnHwangDD


It's the quad tracks and the hot rod exhausts and the autocannons. Yes, wheels would make it better, but it's still not a good design.

Especially compared to the Chimera. Now, why not bring back the Epic Chimera variants? That'd have been better.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/08/09 19:00:53


Post by: Polonius


I haven't updated much lately, in large part due to my wife having a bad ankle break. Still, I've done a bit of work here and there, so I thought I'd post an update.

I finished my Taurox, and while the picture washes out the green, I liked the way it came out:





I also got to apply my new vehicle color scheme, first tried with the Hellhound, on some Chimeras. This is also my first time working with the updated Chimera kit, which is a solid kit, even second hand.









I also started on my conscripts. Since I play Praetorians, buying 40 or so lasgun minis is... tough. I thought about using Zulu war British Riflemen, and I still might, but I wanted to go with a completely different look. I grabbed Boer War Boer irregulars from Black Tree Design, and they match pretty nicely. I've got them built and base painted so far.





Finally, my local GW had a Dark Imperium painting contest. For that, I painted a Blight Bringer in a rusty armor scheme:



The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/08/10 02:58:11


Post by: Azazelx


Nice work on the vehicles. The weathered desert scheme looks good. I'm looking more closely at things like this as I eye off my own IG army for 8th. Great idea (and execution) with the conscripts as well, and the Blightbringer looks good. How did he fare in the GW?


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/08/10 05:16:38


Post by: JoshInJapan


Is that 40 conscripts? You take batch painting to a whole new level. I can't wait to see the finished unit.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/08/10 05:55:20


Post by: IFC_Casting


Nice use of Black Tree Design figs! It's a shame they no longer carry a sci-fi range.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/08/19 02:22:56


Post by: Polonius


Azazelx wrote:Nice work on the vehicles. The weathered desert scheme looks good. I'm looking more closely at things like this as I eye off my own IG army for 8th. Great idea (and execution) with the conscripts as well, and the Blightbringer looks good. How did he fare in the GW?


I didn't win. There was a pretty good Primaris captain done in yellow, so I'm not salty about it.

JoshInJapan wrote:Is that 40 conscripts? You take batch painting to a whole new level. I can't wait to see the finished unit.


Well.. they're pretty simple models, and I'm just using base, heavy wash, highlight to paint them up. I'll have some pictures up once I get more dull cote and I can finish them off.

I was able to finish off another platoon. This one includes some converted plasma guns, and a few conversions on the office.












The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/08/19 23:33:50


Post by: Azazelx


Great work on these guys. You're really turning these guys out. How many Praetorians have you got completed now?


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/08/20 20:44:25


Post by: Polonius


 Azazelx wrote:
Great work on these guys. You're really turning these guys out. How many Praetorians have you got completed now?


With the new paint scheme, I have eight infantry squads, two officers, four grenade launchers (command squad?), and 21 artillery crew. That's just actual praetorian sculpts.

I hadn't done much work on the Praetorians since 2009 or whenever the 5th edition IG book launched, but I had a pretty sizable force painted:



All told, I have 20 infantry squads, 4 veteran squads, 8 heavy weapon squads, 7 command squads, and probably 7 officers.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/08/20 23:41:52


Post by: JoshInJapan


Dang, that's a lot of troops. I wonder how long one turn of 40K would take if you decided to move them all...


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/09/01 20:01:08


Post by: Polonius


I finally complete the conscripts. My initital plan to simply base, dip, and highlight more or less went according to plan, and I like the way they look as a mob:













The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/09/01 22:10:40


Post by: Azazelx


Nice work. They certainly look the part of conscripts!


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/09/01 22:51:49


Post by: bogalubov


Nice job on the conscripts. Also, good to see so much metal in one place with all the infantry together.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/09/02 01:11:00


Post by: Polonius


Azazelx wrote:Nice work. They certainly look the part of conscripts!


Yeah, I was stoked when I found them. They just scream "rag tag."

bogalubov wrote:Nice job on the conscripts. Also, good to see so much metal in one place with all the infantry together.


At some point in the next few months I want to take an updated picture of my praetorians.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/09/08 21:24:40


Post by: Briancj


Looking SHARPE. (Bad pun)

I'm still pondering what I want to do for Conscripts, as they've become quite powerful in 8th.



The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/09/09 14:09:43


Post by: Polonius


 Briancj wrote:
Looking SHARPE. (Bad pun)

I'm still pondering what I want to do for Conscripts, as they've become quite powerful in 8th.



Thanks! I had bought the boers prior to 8th. Since the AM codex is coming out in a month or two, I wouldn't invest a lot right now based on the index. There's no way that conscripts get at least some sort of nerf.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/09/09 15:21:15


Post by: Briancj


Fully agreed. I am both excited and horrified for the new codex. I expect a half dozen new vehicle kits, etc. etc. But we shall see...


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/09/23 17:51:13


Post by: Polonius


After 40 nearly identical conscripts, today's update is the opposite: all characters!

First up, we have the immortal Nork Dedogg, in glorious metal:





I'd been using basic Kasrkin Sergeants as my Tempestor Primes, so I finally painted up two of one of my favorite GW models of all time: the cadian commander!





Fun story: I showed one of these models to my wife, and noted that it was my favorite. She glanced at it, and said, "of course it is... look at that arrogance!" When we talk about "character" in models, this is what we're talking about. These guys look so confident and borderline smug, it just oozes out of them.

Next is a Zulu war British Chaplain from Black Tree Designs, which I grabbed for cheap and I think will make a fun priest for my Praetorians.



Hey kids, do you like Psykers? Of course you do!







How about commissar?









The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/09/24 01:13:54


Post by: JoshInJapan


That's a great collection of character models. Nork looks a lot more Orky that I remembered.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/10/05 22:13:52


Post by: Polonius


Just a few more Praetorian units. First up are three sentinels:





A lascannon heavy weapon squad:



A mortar Squad:



And two veteran squads with plasma guns:




The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2017/10/06 05:25:46


Post by: JoshInJapan


Whoa, you've been busy! I really like the camo on those Sentinels.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2018/03/02 15:22:04


Post by: Polonius


It's been a long since I've updated this poor blog! I've been busy, albeit not as busy as I was last summer. I'm going to post some highlights of what i've accomplished since my last post, and then I'll be trying to post more regularly again.

Today's highlights are for my Praetorian IG:

First up, some heavy weapon squads. The Mortar Teams are missing crew, because I used them to create crew for my FW artillery. This way, the same models can do double duty






I also painted up an LRBT in my more modern color scheme. I'm pretty happy with the light weathering on it:



Here's my army prepped for an RTT:


Here's my army at Armies on Parade:






While not really part of my WIP, I did take advantage of a rainy, cold day by snapping some pictures of my complete IG army. The infantry:

And the vehicles:




The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2018/05/28 15:30:34


Post by: Polonius


I took a break from warhams to paint some guild ball for a friend of mine. They're the hunters, but he wanted them to feature blue to match his other teams, which all match his Cygnar army. After some thinking, I decided to go with a winter theme:

Polar Bear! I"m not sure why they strapped tusks to his sides. I'm guessing that since this is technically a sport, and not a fight to the death, it's to actually limit how dangerous he is.


Traps. these were amazingly fun to paint. No clue what they do in the game, but I got to use rust effects, leaves, and snow on the same model.


It's not a puma.


He's got a blunderbuss and a thousand yard stare. Plus, a pelt for a hat. I'm not sitting next to him on the bus.


A large shaman. I respect his culture, that allows a beefy man to turn away from obvious career choices like "ax guy" to become a spiritual figure.


I like to think this is a happy couple that met on a "sneaking with knives" dating site.


A big ole corn fed arayn with a Bow.


The spear says he's deadly, the moustache says he's everybody's gym teacher from middle school.


I think this is a wolf, not a dog, but he's posing like he's at a dog show.


she has a similar face as an ex-girlfriend, which meant painting her unsettling.


He also had some mercenaries, which I painted less wintry. First up is this guy, who clearly missed the exit for the protectorate of menoth and joined a hyperviolent soccer league instead.


I love metal models, but not when they're like this. there are six parts to this model, and the joins are all terribly designed. Go to hell, Steamforged games.


I didn't even know Mankind had a daughter, but apparently she plays guildball.


If you can't enjoy painting a giant turtle with a treasure chest on his back, you might be dead inside.




The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2018/05/30 15:16:20


Post by: Polonius


I'm still working through a backlog of pictures, so here are some more non-40k models I've painted semi-recently.

The Shadespire Stormcast:



The Shadespire Khorne:


A muse/diviner I painted for my wife's collection of princess style models:





The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2018/06/14 11:50:26


Post by: Polonius


I'm taking another detour from my Praetorians to paint some Eldar. I've always wanted to build an army with second edition metals, and I've always loved the background for Biel Tan. I started with the most iconic battleline unit, the Dire Avengers:



The old Ranger sculpts had so much character to them:



I got this guy in a bitz bag a while back, it turns out he was one of the farseers from the 3rd edition Seer Council box. This is one of those models that is both uncommon and unheralded.



Just a good old fashioned warlock:


The same sculpt + green stuff = spirit seer!





The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2018/06/14 15:16:10


Post by: JohnHwangDD


Nice take on the classic Eldar!


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2018/06/15 20:16:13


Post by: JoshInJapan


It's nice to see those old metal models getting some attention. Eldar was my first army back in the RT days, and those chunky metal models still look better to me than any plastics.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2018/06/16 00:12:02


Post by: alabamaheretic


Good stuff man I really like your farseer, Dire avengers are some of my favorite models. the paint looks like it was supposed to be there.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2018/06/16 17:24:14


Post by: Polonius


JohnHwangDD wrote:Nice take on the classic Eldar!


Thanks!

JoshInJapan wrote:It's nice to see those old metal models getting some attention. Eldar was my first army back in the RT days, and those chunky metal models still look better to me than any plastics.


The super early RT models are a bit underdetailed and have a slightly different aesthetic, but no army can mix models from across time like the Eldar. Even Space Marines, which have kept a pretty consistent look, have evolved enough to the point where the differences are jarring. I've had opponents be suprised that the Dire Avengers are even metal, because they just assumed they were current!

alabamaheretic wrote:Good stuff man I really like your farseer, Dire avengers are some of my favorite models. the paint looks like it was supposed to be there.


Thanks! Outside of the green crest, it's pretty bog standard codex pattern, but I like to tie my aspect warriors into my craft world.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2018/09/05 22:03:10


Post by: Ketara


Those Eldar warlocks have actually dated rather well.

Otherwise, get back to the Praetorians! That's what we come here to see!


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2018/09/06 01:16:45


Post by: Polonius


 Ketara wrote:
Otherwise, get back to the Praetorians! That's what we come here to see!


I've been working on tanks mostly in the last few months, but I'll try to get some redcoats up at some point. For starters, here are some Chimeras"



A hellhound:





A Griffon:







And some Leman Russ Demolishers:






The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2018/09/06 16:44:15


Post by: Ketara


Blimey, that's an old school griffon. Don't see many like it these days.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2018/09/09 22:17:45


Post by: Polonius


Some more armor, starting with some bare bones LRBTs:



And the "not a STUG" Destroyer Tank Hunter:







The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2018/09/10 08:31:22


Post by: Minigiant


Just been checking out all your Praetorians, they look great! I want to see more


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2018/10/09 20:37:54


Post by: Polonius


Okay, I"ll post some actual Praetorians!

I tried to take some WIP pictures on the last two squads I painted, but I basically got three steps.

I work over white for them, due to the large amount of bright red. Even so, it takes a few coats of thinned down dark red paint (Reaper #277 Splattered Crimson) to get the base coat. The blue of the trousers is Reaper Nightmare Black, which far from black, is actually a mid to dark blue. Odd, but I like it. The bases start with a few coats of dark brown craft paint.



The yellow of the braiding is again Reaper, starting with #006 Fire Orange. I then wash the red and yellow with red wash. The lasguns get a dark brown base, with Bolt gun hardware. The webbing starts out with Reaper Ghost White, and then I was it and the trousers with Payne's Grey. The boots are painted charcoal, then washed black along with the lasgun. the helmet is painted Reaper Green Ochre and washed with flesh tone.



After that, it's mostly layering up. The red goes up through the dried blood triad, the braiding goes through the next two yellows, the lasgun stock is hit with intense brown, and the trousers get a light dry brush of a mid blue.

The green optics are reaper Pine, Leaf, and Pale greens, with a wash of Vallejo black-green after the base coat. The plasma coils are Vallejo Ultramarine, washed with paynes grey, then drybrushed with Arcane and Lightning blue, with a final Skink Blue drybrush.



The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2018/10/09 23:04:46


Post by: JoshInJapan


Thanks for posting these photos. Your WIP models are very, very clean. I admire your patience.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2018/10/10 16:07:48


Post by: Emperors will


Holy just scrolled though cool to see some old models


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2018/10/15 17:45:48


Post by: Polonius


JoshInJapan wrote:Thanks for posting these photos. Your WIP models are very, very clean. I admire your patience.


Thanks. I try to stay within the lines.

Emperors will wrote:Holy just scrolled though cool to see some old models


Yeah, my zest for older models is like 30% nostalgia, and 70% being cheap, and buying stuff used. I also like my stuff to match.

So, I know everybody is here for the Praetorians, but I'm working through my backlog of photos that I've never shared, and today's batch are Primaris Ultramarines, painted in the full, early 3rd edition retro color scheme.

First up, Inceptors. Hard name to spell, hard models to build. Getting those goofy little stands to line up properly was a PITA. That said... they look great, IMO.





Hellblasters:




And the surprisingly fun to paint Primaris Ancient.







Automatically Appended Next Post:
Another project I never shared was my buddy's guild ball engineers. These were painted to match his Cygnar, which is why you get the glorious bright blue of the true king Leto, and the obvious accent of brass.



























And Mist, an associated Union Player



The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2018/10/21 15:47:37


Post by: Polonius


Made some progress with the Imperial Guard. Nothing motivates like an event, and while I had two painted Manticores, they were in my old scheme, and had been somewhat hastily, if neatly, painted a few years ago. I was able to over paint them in timw for a tournament yesterday, were they did yeoman's work.

Before:


After:




Unfortunately, I got a grand total of one good shot of my army during the event:



the TO snapped a very similar shot:



The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2019/10/07 18:45:56


Post by: Polonius


I'm resurrecting this old blog, as I've got a huge backlog of pictures and progress, and I want to start sharing. For the next couple of weeks, It'll mostly be long finished stuff, but I'll resume more timely updates. thanks to my phone and Dakka's upload history, I can figure out where I stopped posting... holy cow, over a year ago? With my last consistent posts two years ago? Ooof

Let's dive into summer of 2018, when I was chasing that meta with a trio of Smash Captains. After extensive detours into older metals, non-GW models, and used stuff, building a modern GW multi pose plastic kit was a complete breath of fresh air. The BA doodads went on easily while adding a lot of pizzazz.



three cheers for zenithal priming, followed by a coat of Warcolor Red 5:



I layered that red up with further Warcolors, and really liked the rich red I got.



While doing all of this meta chasing, I was also engaging in high commerce, in a way that would make any Ferengi blush.
Spoiler:
It all starts when I buy a trio of Custodes Jetbikes NIB on an ebay 15% sale. I then pick up a gallon sized Ziploc bag of tyranids at a swap meet. Days later, I see a local guy looking for Nids, with SW Legion and 9 Custodes bikes. He does the trade for the nids plus $30, and tosses in a codex! I later sell 7 of the bikes painted for $20 to other meta chasers. One of them eventually sells four of them to a mutual friend starting Custodes for real. He was bummed to strip them, but I offered to trade the NIB set for the painted boys. In the end, for about $115 and some painting time, I make back $140, plus I have 7 painted jetbikes, a codex, some SW legion, and a few cherry picked nids!


When painting the golden bois, I stuck with a pretty standard color scheme. the bike is based with Vallejo Model Color Bronze, highlighted with VMC Brass and lightly dry brushed with auric Armor. the riders were based in brass, layered with auric armor, and dry brushed with Sigmarite.







I also played a little, including this little scene in which an opponents Smash Captain faced the fury of dozens of flashlights!



As for the balance of that trade, I knocked out some Legion Rebels. They are fun little models, even if the quality is a bit dodgy.











The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2019/10/07 19:40:44


Post by: Briancj


Welcome back!


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2019/10/09 19:03:50


Post by: Polonius


You guys like rescue jobs, right?

At a swap meet, I was able to grab somebody's entire collection of Imperial Guard vehicles. They had a wide range, and they were all kinds of painted, and in varying levels of complete.




I started with the basilisks and hellhounds:









In an unrelated purchase, I grabbed a painted Armorcast Shadowsword, sight unseen, for $25. I mean, how bad could it be.. oh. Oh my





I gave it a nice long back in LA's totally awesome, scrubbing every week or so until I got it as clean as I could. Zenithal primed in subassemblies, and then airbrushed with XV-88 and given a sepia wash:



The final outcome:







The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2019/10/09 19:05:21


Post by: Briancj


Thank you so much for saving these!

--Brian



The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2019/10/09 19:11:01


Post by: Polonius


 Briancj wrote:
Thank you so much for saving these!

--Brian



It was a pleasure, honestly. All of my tanks (save the Pask I'm working on) are the old LRBTs, so I pretty much need to go used with them. I do have two modern Hellhounds, but since the rules continue to favor the basic loadout of the classic model, I favor those. And the difference between the current and OOP basilisk are minor, and frankly the older version is a better model.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2019/10/09 19:13:36


Post by: Briancj


All of the original kits are better, just from a bitz standpoint. I have three of them left (boxed!) that I'm using for extra special projects.

--B.



The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2019/10/09 19:15:30


Post by: Boss Salvage


 Polonius wrote:
You guys like rescue jobs, right?
Mmm, very satisfying stuff And great end results

Also holy hell that Shadowsword's surprise paint job


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2019/10/11 20:57:24


Post by: Polonius


Time for a few more rescue projects. Since many used tanks are missing turrets, or have broken ring tabs, and since virtually all used tanks are basic battle cannons, the fix is to get extra turrets. That means FW turrets! The pictures below are a jumble of WIP and finished shots, but it's apparently all I took during operation Tank Factory!







And then some LR hulls to accommodate those turrets:









I took some old alt battle cannon turrets, and added coaxial storm bolters for some counts as conquerors:






Let's look at a rack of LRBTs:



and some Chimeras:






Automatically Appended Next Post:
 Boss Salvage wrote:
 Polonius wrote:
You guys like rescue jobs, right?
Mmm, very satisfying stuff And great end results

Also holy hell that Shadowsword's surprise paint job


thanks! Yeah, that was a bold choice.I'm just happy it came off! (Not that those old sculpts had enough detail to be lost with layers of paint...)


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2019/10/15 15:31:19


Post by: Polonius


Like a lot of people, I grabbed Blackstone Fortress when it came out. On the whole, it was a joy to build and paint, with just enough variety to keep from getting bored. I kept all the models within a pretty limited palette, mostly greys and purple, to suggest a bit of a slaanesh influence. I'm not wild about the basing, but I can't think of anything better, and I figure complete is better than incomplete.




Drones:


Guardsman:




Rogue Psykers:



Ghouls:


negavolt Cultists:


Beastmen:



CSM:



Chaos Lord:



Heroes:












The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2019/10/15 15:50:10


Post by: Briancj


Woo! Done is done!

--B.



The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2019/10/17 04:05:28


Post by: JoshInJapan


Lots of good-looking models there. Nicely done.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2019/10/17 20:41:29


Post by: Polonius


Next up we have some more Guild Ball, with the Falconers making an appearance! I wanted to replicate the box art, but between the soft detail in the board game plastic, the lack of good reference photos, and (mostly) my own limitations I don't think I got very close. This was the sort of side project that should have been fun, but quickly became highly frustrating. There are few elements I like, such as the verdigris on the bronze, but overall this wasn't my best work.







More recently, my buddy sent me the new Miners, and for whatever forsaken reason, I looked at the ridiculous drill tank, and thought of construction vehicle yellow. These were painted mostly using Warcolors, and I also added some pigments for the first time.

























I find the guild ball minis to generally be a fun diversion. Their asthetic is more detailed and whimsical than PP's take on steampunk, but not nearly as bizarre as Wyrd's.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2019/10/21 18:05:36


Post by: Polonius


Let's shrink things down to a very sexy 6mm... it's time for Epic 40k Eldar!

Gaurdian Warhost:



Seer Council:


Bright Lance:


Heavy Weapon:


Windrider Jetbikes:


Swooping Hawks:



Harlequins:


Howling Banshees:


Striking Scorpions:


Exarch with striking Scorpions:


Fire Prisms:


Falcons:


Wave Serpents:




The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2019/10/21 18:52:09


Post by: Briancj


Nice! Getting back into Epic?


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2019/10/21 19:11:18


Post by: Polonius


 Briancj wrote:
Nice! Getting back into Epic?


I was toying with the idea. I've had the army for years and years, and a couple of guys in Baltimore expressed some interest. they're easy to paint (at least to table top standard) and kind of fun. Unfortunately, I moved to a gaming desert in June. (The move overall was a good thing in my life ) At this point I'm just focusing on painting and hobbying.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2019/10/21 19:39:41


Post by: Briancj


I'm pretty much the same, while I'm in a highly populated area, that also means people are into 'the newest thing' and 'highly competitive.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2019/11/05 20:00:55


Post by: Polonius


Okay, let's get back to some IG! First up is the accumulation of multiple ebay coupons, a full brick of bullgryns!



these were some of the first "modern" GW plastics I've worked with in a while, and they're an absolute delight. They assemble nicely, the detail is super crisp, and even if I don't love the aesthetic, I appreciate them as models.

Next up are pretty much the opposite... original metal Catachans. Single piece, all metal, and just full of character oozing out of them. Also included are some of the circa 2003 catachan officers, which shared a design space, but are much more richly detailed and modern models. Looking at them, I can't help but miss the days when GW had a wider range of sculpts in metal.









and finally, a little bit of a tease for when I want to run my Praetorians under Catachan rules:




The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2019/11/05 20:53:13


Post by: Briancj


Praetorian PAYBACK.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2019/11/21 14:45:34


Post by: Polonius


All right, it's time for some more Praetorians! These are winding down, but over the summer I made a big push to work on infantry. It started with a tub of stuff I took to work on in the extended stay while we looked for a house:



















The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2019/11/22 03:49:33


Post by: Briancj


o.O So many... O.o

--B.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2019/12/02 16:11:53


Post by: Polonius


Time for some more praetorian infantry, this time heavy weapon teams!

autocannon:


missile launcher:


Mortar:


Lascannon in resin base:




Group Shot:


And then a group shot of recently painted models:





The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2019/12/03 01:32:32


Post by: Briancj


Deeee-lightful!

--B.



The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2019/12/03 01:52:56


Post by: JoshInJapan


Man, your Praetorian army must be huge by now.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2019/12/03 02:39:20


Post by: Boss Salvage


Super impressive progress, full OG metal Guard armies are the business. Especially Praets


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2019/12/04 14:12:20


Post by: Polonius


Briancj wrote:Deeee-lightful!

--B.



thanks!

JoshInJapan wrote:Man, your Praetorian army must be huge by now.


Ominous foreshadowing!

Boss Salvage wrote:Super impressive progress, full OG metal Guard armies are the business. Especially Praets


Single piece metal models have a some advantages in horde armies. They're durable, the poses are all excellent, and they have a real heft. The cost and lack of variety is a bummer though.



Automatically Appended Next Post:
This is a photo heavy post, celebrating the completion of an entire playable army in a mass combat sci fi game: that's right, Enforcers for Mantic's Warpath! And not Warpath Firefight, the sort of RC Cola version of 40k, but proper Warpath, with unit basing and all!

I had picked up these enforcers over time, including a big bag of resin Deadzone models at an auction, door prizes at Mantic Night at Adepticon, and some that I straight up bought. I was motivated to paint these to enter the Mantic Brush with Death contest, which does include a full army category. While I did not win (unsurprisingly), I can safely say that I had best Warpath army in the contest

I also used this as an opportunity to play with basing technique and some weathering. I didn't have the time (or motivation) to apply pigments to the full army, but those that I did looked good. I also liked the look of cork on the bases.



























The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2019/12/04 14:37:24


Post by: Briancj


Congrats!



The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2019/12/04 15:04:59


Post by: Polonius


 Briancj wrote:
Congrats!



the joke is, I had the only Warpath army in the contest. The rest were KOW armies


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2019/12/04 15:22:31


Post by: Boss Salvage


I had no idea there was a unit based version of Warpath I assumed it was all a not-40k skirmish game, not a KOW in Space deal as well. Congrats on the army either way, looks great


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2019/12/04 19:33:31


Post by: JoshInJapan


Nifty! I love Mantic's Enforcer models, and you really did a great job on them. Have you actually played Warpath?


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2019/12/04 19:41:50


Post by: Polonius


 JoshInJapan wrote:
Nifty! I love Mantic's Enforcer models, and you really did a great job on them. Have you actually played Warpath?


I have not. The game was virtually DOA, and between some gaps in the release schedule, some really heinous and obvious balance issues, and 40k 8th Edition sucking in all the air, it really never found a foothold. Mantic sends a huge staff to Adepticon, and it's not even played there. It's a shame, because on paper I love the idea.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2019/12/04 19:59:40


Post by: JoshInJapan


 Polonius wrote:
 JoshInJapan wrote:
Nifty! I love Mantic's Enforcer models, and you really did a great job on them. Have you actually played Warpath?


I have not. The game was virtually DOA, and between some gaps in the release schedule, some really heinous and obvious balance issues, and 40k 8th Edition sucking in all the air, it really never found a foothold. Mantic sends a huge staff to Adepticon, and it's not even played there. It's a shame, because on paper I love the idea.


That's a shame. I backed the KS, but not having a regular gaming group, I haven't had a chance to try it out myself, despite the huge number of DZ models I own.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2019/12/12 19:15:41


Post by: Polonius


Next up are some IG characters. These are mostly completed, but they still need flock and a few details.

Commissar:



Primaris Psykers:






Ogryns and Bodyguards:





The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2019/12/16 18:26:11


Post by: Polonius


In the home stretch for my IG, I dug out my remaining unbuilt vehicles, and I finally got them completed.

Taurox Prime, a model which is slowly growing on me


Taurox with Victoria Miniatures Wheels. They completely transform the vehicle from something kind of goofy and like a GIJoe toy into a top heavy armored car.



A deathstrike Missile Launcher. this is the last model I bought, I found it built at a swap meet. I didn't own one, because there has literally been no reason to do so since the rules came out in 5th edition. Still, it's hard to claim you have a complete IG army without every option, so here it is!



Speaking of options, here is a Wyvvern with Victoria Minis heads on the crew. While I have old Griffon Mortars which I use "counts as" the Wyvvern, it's good to have the official model.



And finally, while I've had plenty of models with exposed crew, I ordered the official model for the man, the myth, the legend, Knight Commander Pask! Sharp eyed readers might note that he rides in the only current generation LRBT in my army.






The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2019/12/17 20:51:14


Post by: Briancj


"I bought it so I could have the official model." You hoarder*.

--Brian

*also a hoarder


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2019/12/20 18:35:47


Post by: Polonius


As the year wraps up, this blog is almost caught up to my current projects. Today, we have the last few IG infantry, some of which I've shown as WIP.

Third edition Ogryn. Models which need a fairly subdued, muted color scheme, because they have character popping all over the model, bordering on the cartoony.



Rogue Trader Ogryn. These are OG models, oozing with charisma. Frankly, they take a modern paint job very well and look good overall. It helps that for early pewter, they were multi part, which gives them a bit more dynamism. Overall, I like the abhuman, but not really ogre look of this generation (and the modern ones) more than the "Ogres in space!" of 3rd edition, even if those models had their charm.



Modern Ogryn Bodyguards, modeled as plate/slab/maul, bruteshield/maul, and plate/slab/ripper. I got a box of bullgryn in a trade, and I already had a full brick of nine. I figure in a pinch, they can also bulk out bullgryn squads.



Catachan tank crew and cadian at ease. The former were direct only models, while the latter was an event special and one of the most widely available rarity in the hobby. Interesting little project, stuff like this was great back in the day.



A flock of commissars. I'm not sure what a group of commissars would be call. A scowl? A scowl of commissars? This includes the legendary "beer gut" commissar that was included in the limited edition Praetorian box, which leads to some people claiming it was also limited edition. I have about a half dozen of them despite never seeking him out, so while a fantastic model, he ain't rare. speaking of not that rare, this also includes two of the female commissar which was, I think, a games day model. She is, as you can tell, a mediocre sculpt. Got them in a trade, and just painted 'em up.



Big brain boyz. I low key love painted up wizards and psykers, so these guys were great to paint. I'm particularly please with the blue effects on the left most model.



And finally, painted up in all his glory, is Gunnery Sergeant Algernon Harker:



The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2020/01/08 17:17:52


Post by: Polonius


A bit of a treat for me: I got a chance to lay out all of my IG stuff and take some pictures. Despite having an eight foot table, I still had to take pics of the vehicles and infantry separately:






















The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2020/01/08 18:48:01


Post by: Boss Salvage


DUDE.

Inspiring legion of men and machines, extreme props


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2020/01/09 01:15:09


Post by: JoshInJapan


Great googly moogly! That's a truly impressive army. How much more do you have left to paint?


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2020/01/09 01:57:53


Post by: MegaDave


Wowzers! You're getting an Apoc game in when?!


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2020/01/09 02:58:54


Post by: The Riddle of Steel


That is truly LEGENDARY. I bow down to your epic hobby dominance.

I want to know how on earth you store all of those models. Do you need a full garage or what? There is no way that could all even fit in a single room, unless you have some pretty space-efficient storage systems (or some very large closets!).

Amazing work.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2020/01/09 17:54:26


Post by: gobert


Great Scot! That’s immense, it must’ve taken many a year to paint up that many tanks and little guys!


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2020/01/09 18:14:00


Post by: Captain Brown


Nice army shots Polonius. It is always nice to see and share the fruits of our painting labour.

Exalted.

Cheers,

CB


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2020/01/09 20:13:47


Post by: Polonius


Boss Salvage wrote:DUDE.

Inspiring legion of men and machines, extreme props


thanks!

JoshInJapan wrote:Great googly moogly! That's a truly impressive army. How much more do you have left to paint?


Very little, relatively speaking. probably little more than 20-30 infantry models and a couple of vehicles, but a lot of those are either incomplete, or still NIB as collectors items.

MegaDave wrote:Wowzers! You're getting an Apoc game in when?!


Man, I wish. I moved to a small city with no 40k, so I won't be playing anything anytime soon. It does lead to a lot of time to paint though!

The Riddle of Steel wrote:That is truly LEGENDARY. I bow down to your epic hobby dominance.

I want to know how on earth you store all of those models. Do you need a full garage or what? There is no way that could all even fit in a single room, unless you have some pretty space-efficient storage systems (or some very large closets!).

Amazing work.


Battlefoam and shelving units. Just good old steel and particle board shelving units.

gobert wrote:Great Scot! That’s immense, it must’ve taken many a year to paint up that many tanks and little guys!


The older paint scheme, with khaki trousers and the tank stripes, was done off and one from 2002-2017. I started the new scheme in late 2017. so it's a mix of decades of work and a huge push in the last four years.

Captain Brown wrote:Nice army shots Polonius. It is always nice to see and share the fruits of our painting labour.

Exalted.

Cheers,

CB


Thanks!


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2020/01/13 19:19:04


Post by: Polonius


We aren't really back up to real time yet, but it's time to start showing off things I've painted in less than two months. A local store had a black Friday sale, and I grabbed Shadowspear to add to my retro style ultramarines. After months spent rehabbing used, 20 year old minis, I'm always delighted by how detailed new models are, and how easily they go together. In addition to Shadowspear, I also build up some scouts to beef up the 10th company, as well as metal hybrid devastators and old metal veterans.







The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2020/01/28 16:28:28


Post by: Polonius


Today we've got some shadowspear WIP to share. Starting with an Eliminator, where instead of trying to paint a camo pattern (which looks good maybe 1/3 of the time) I went for a washed out, desaturated version of my basing color highlighted up. So I take Delta Ceramcote Autumn Brown (don't laugh, I go through a 2oz bottle a year) which is my main base color, and I mixed in some Trail Tan, which I normally use to highlight the gravel. I really like how it ended up looking:





You can see a pretty finalized version of that cloak on my Vanguard Captain, who combines the stealth and discretion of a mud brown cloak with a scarlet red cord. I think he's also one of the few non-space wolf Marines who rocks facial hair.


The Lieutenant really shows off how I paint the ultramarine blue itself, which while I'm not 100% satisfied, I do enjoy. I work from black primer, and then block in with Reaper HD Solid Blue. I then hit it with a Warcolours Marie 5, which is quite dark and basically translucent. This provides some depth and shading. I then just layer up two coats of Marine 4 (maybe one if I'm lazy), a blend of 4 and 3, and then some final highlights with marine 3. IMO, it gives a really rich blue.



I'm pretty reserved about model quality. Very rarely does my "jaw drop," but there are minis that I really like from the get go. the Vanguard Librarian is definitely one of them. One of the things that I really like about the Vanguard line is that they keep the original spirit of RT era 40k alive. Not necessarily the specific aesthetic, but that weird "high tech meets gothic fantasy meets 80s counter culture" mashup really caught me. The vanguard isn't the exact same mix, but I find it's combination of sci-fi aesthetic, low level gothic, and modern tacti-cool gear to be a great combination. There's something about a person in power armor using a leather belt that just grabs me. To me, while the Captain is a great model, the Librarian really captures that aesthetic at a high level. The trench coat, the hood, the gothic gubbins, and the pose all combine for something both unique to 40k and very representative of it.



I'm a lot less enthusiastic about the repressors. They double down on Inceptors as jump pack heavy weapon troops, and I guess that's fine. I simply take points away from any models that use the new crappy flying stands.



Finally, a basic infiltrator. Like the libby, I dig the little touches. The antennae, the pouches, and the purity seals all present a really relatable look for a completely bonkers setting. Also, the asymmetry of only one shoulder pad having the trim looks sharp.



The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2020/01/28 20:13:40


Post by: JoshInJapan


+1 for Delta Ceramcoat-- I use charcoal and chocolate brown on pretty much every model I paint. I wish it were available locally.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2020/01/29 13:57:04


Post by: Boss Salvage


+2 from me, DC Dark Burnt Umber is hands down one of my favorite paints (and the color of my first CSM army - brown, after all, is the new black)


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2020/01/29 17:13:50


Post by: Polonius


yeah, the DC earth tones are great. Anything with strong color is more suspect, but I still use their Dove Grey, Chacoal, Autumn brown, burnt umber, trail tan, and a forest green.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2020/02/26 19:05:43


Post by: Polonius


I finished the vanguard marines from shadowspeare, and they are simply gorgeous models. While monopose, I really like the variety and appearance. Starting with infiltrators:



Eliminators:



Suppressors (and a pox on the flying stand!)



Characters:



And not strictly shadowspear, but part of the 10th company, a squad of bolter scouts:




The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2020/03/31 17:29:38


Post by: Polonius


Quick update: finsihed some Aggressors for my primaris ultramarines!





I also completed some Reivers:








The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2020/04/08 13:37:15


Post by: Polonius


Time for a big update! I've been busy painting under isolation, and honestly most of hte winter, so I've got a lot to share.

Some old school metal scouts:





Razorback:




devestators:


Intercessors:



The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2020/04/08 23:31:46


Post by: tzurk


Those scouts are probably my favourite space marine sculpts of all time. They look great all together! Really digging the classic UM scheme.


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2020/04/09 17:21:38


Post by: Polonius


 tzurk wrote:
Those scouts are probably my favourite space marine sculpts of all time. They look great all together! Really digging the classic UM scheme.


thanks!

yeah, the metal scouts are really interesting, because they're an amazing range, stuck between the hilariously goofy 2nd edition scouts, and the deeply underwhelming plastics, which are currently pushing 15 years old themselves!

My actual favorite SM sculpts are from a bit later.. the 4th edition metal vets! (ominous foreshadowing!)


The Casual Painter: A hobby blog - retro painted Ultramarines @ 2020/04/23 15:06:05


Post by: Polonius


So, we're about a month into lockdown... I guess it's time to share what I've been up to. I decided to start out by making sure I had plenty of stuff to paint, so I cleaned, built, and primed a few old marines:







Next, I painted the last of my primaris marines, starting with the big boy himself, the primarch!





With adepticon cruely denied to me, I did get a chance to finally paint my event model from last year:




you can always use a little psychic support:




And in case anybody gets hurt, you've got to have a medic:



Finally, I broke out blackstone fortress for some solo play, and while I'm not quite done with the hidden vault arc yet, I've already got my next challenge ready: