At the start of the year I set myself a few hobby goals:
• Slaanesh models to make up at least 50% of painted models this year.
• Paint twice as much as I buy. All models are not equal here – infantry will count as 1 model, cavalry/bikes as 2, vehicles monstrous creatures with less than 10 wounds – 5 models, 10-15 wounds – 10 models, 15-20 wounds – 15 models and 20+ wounds – 20 models.
• Enter the Dakka painting comp run by Paradigm minimum 10 of 12 months
• Start a blog and update regularly
First one is a gentle push towards getting my 40K Slaanesh army (well, will be an army eventually, currently more of a Killteam) progressing – targets for painting the minis but with room for manoeuvre for when I need a change. No real deadlines as I don’t want this to become a chore as that’s a sure way to lose motivation for me. Second is a probably futile attempt to reduce backlog. I’m going with model equivalent numbers, otherwise I’ll do something silly like buying a knight for every two cultists painted then never painting the knights as that’s a lot of time for one model. Third adds some variety. I started entering this last year and is fun competition open to all with a friendly community happy to advise and a wide range of painting ability. I’ve no hope of winning, there are some really good painters there, but that’s not really the point. It gives an excuse to paint something different and adds a deadline which helps getting things done (even better if I can get a Slaanesh model to fit the month’s theme). The fourth you are reading now, hope is this will encourage me to be a little more productive and will simply include anything I'm working on/have finished
Anyway, you’re probably not here to hear me witter on, here are some pics of the Slaanesh ‘army’ to start with
Thanks for the comments all. Hope to get a look at your work soon if I haven't already
Thought I'd post a quick update of the things I'm currently working on. First up are these marines for the Slaanesh army, basecoats need tidying before armour shading then its on to highlights
Also on the painting bench is this guy for the dakka painting comp. I've already got a terminator done (pics up soon), will maybe get this one done in time too. Whether he's done in time or not he needs to get finished soon otherwise he'll never get done. I've done a bit more on him since the photo, just the black and silver highlights to go. Hmm, which is most of the model for a Deathwatch marine. I also just noticed that I've got the colours the wrong way round on the imperial fists chapter symbol. Not going to change it as that part was a bit fiddly, I guess he's from a successor chapter instead
So far so good working towards my goals, however flicking through Youwashock's blog the other day I was inspired to dig out this old model. Introducing distraction 1 - a zoat.
He's currently taking a Dettol bath
Automatically Appended Next Post: Almost forgot to ask - the gallery seems to have rotated a couple of pics, any idea why or how to fix?
Looking for ward to painting him, hope to get him cleaned up over the weekend.
Anyway, enough on zoats for now, its the end of the month so its time for a quick goals progress report. Might as well include January as well. Unfortunately a bit of a slow start to the year on the completed minis front but some progress elsewhere. Finished these two zombicide survivors for the dakka painting comp in Jan
and the Feb total was even lower with just one measly terminator, again for the painting comp
Still, fairly happy with how they turned out.
I also got most of a 1250ish point Slaanesh marine army base coated, so hopefully will get these finished in the next couple of months
so on the goals front:
Painting Slaanesh: 0/3 (0%) not a good start here
Painting more than I buy: 3 painted, 0 bought. So far so good, not sure how long I can last without some new shiny things though..
Entering painting comp: 2/2 going well
Blog: started and updated
so 3/4 going ok, though really need to pic up the pace in March...
Terminator is looking like a boss. Loving the highlights on the black. ZC minis are impressive. It always amazes me what people are able to pull out of board game minis.
@youwashock, the zc minis are pretty good. Plastic is a bit harder to clean up with than GW plastic and they can be a bit fiddly (very small brush required in places), but they are fairly detailed and it makes a nice change to paint something different - its not very often I get to paint jeans.
I got a little painting done over the weekend, got the Death watch marine finished. Not in time for the painting comp, but pretty pleased with how it turned out
Thanks for the comments. Its been a couple of weeks since my last post so time for an update. Have I done any Slaanesh? Or maybe that Zoat? Nope, again I've gone elsewhere - A while back a friend and I bought a ticket for an upcoming tournament, it's been in the back of my mind for a while now, always thinking it's a long way off, no problem, now realised there are less than two months to go so need to get the army done for that. Not going to get chaos done for this so I've decided to use this as a reason to update my AdMech - I've got a couple of units that need some highlights finishing and also need to add another 15 or so Skitarii, 3 dragoons and a couple of Dunecrawlers by the beginning of May. Not too daunting for some, but considering I managed four models in the first two months it could be tight and means the marines and zoat have been put on hold. I have finished off this unit of Rangers and started building a dragoon whilst waiting for the rest of the models to turn up:
I've also started my entry for the painting challenge, theme is space marine. Doesn't fit with my admech painting and I entered a purple marine a couple of months ago so I've gone for a random model I had lying around instead - an assault marine. Early days on this one but here is a WIP shot:
Nice work man; shooting you a PM in case you're local, would love to throw down against these models sometime dude; such a clean job on the brighter colours!
@ Tyranidhorde - nice that you remember that entry, I must be doing something right! Hope to get them expanded into a full army by the end of the year. Are you entering this month's challenge? Judging by that tank you did a few months back I imagine you could do a great Rhino/predator etc.
@Gamerguy - thanks for comments. I don't live that near Leicester, though not an insurmountable distance (near London). Maybe in the Summer when I have a bit more time
Quick update, I've now built a Dragoon and a Dunecrawler, here they are guarding a little something that came in the post this morning. Time to get building...
Quick update time. I've mainly been building Ad Mech so only one model finished since my last post, this assault marine
As it's the end of March, lets see how the goals are going - not great to be honest
Painting Slaanesh: 0/10 (0%) not good and going to get worse this month...
Painting more than I buy: 10 painted, 55 bought - oh dear, still, hope to catch up on this with the Ad Mech this month
Entering painting comp: 3/3 - still going well
Blog: I'm still here!
Mcmattila, thanks for your comments. I can never really decide what to do with those joints so I usually just go with the easiest option of using the base colour plus wash. Agree I need to do something more though maybe black would stand out too much? Maybe a darker shade of red? Something to think about next time I paint a marine
Very nice! Fantastic red. I agree that the joints could be a different color. Black or dark grey, most likely. Also, minor thing but it stands out against the neatness of the rest of the model, there's a splash of red on the gun barrel.
Love your Slaanesh scheme and the execution, your work on everything is very crisp and you have excellent layering and highlighting schemes.
As for the red on the barrel that is one of the great things about photographing your miniatures, it is amazing how readily apparent mistakes become in front of the lens, you can then go and fix them.
Hi there, its been a while since my las tpost and progress has been slower than I'd hoped. Still, most of the ad mech are at least game ready though only a couple of days to go to get the rest game ready. At least I have a couple of days off work.
Ad mech progress:
and some more detail on a few of them that I've finished for the dakka painting challenge
The finished guys are looking really nice! And it seems you're making good progress on the rest of the force too. A couple of days doesn't sound like much time, but when you only have a couple of days, it only takes a couple of days! Good luck!
Thanks guys. And yes a deadline really helps, I've done more in the last week or two than the first three months. Got everything game ready and finished all the infantry. Here are those infantry and the army shot
Automatically Appended Next Post: Which appear to be upside down, not sure why but Will have to do for now
Great looking army , the upside down and sideways shots are usually because yourusing an IPhone or iPad (just an assumption). It’s an ongoing issue between apple and Dakkadakka, I think it’s because Yakface beat the new ceo of apple in 40k years ago.
Thanks for the nice comments everyone. Just came on for a quick tournament update, as expected not doing great with 1 win and 2 losses. Hopefully will get some pics and more detail later on.
Not got iPhone, Samsung (android I think) so not sure where the pic problem has come from. First time using phone pics though
Tournament over, did better than expected (not really a competitive player and the list wasn't particularly strong, just took what I had and used it as an excuse to add some more units to the army) with 2 wins, a draw and two losses, 49th out of 80 or so. Anyway, didn't come on for that (hopefully will add some pics when I get around to sorting through the photos). Instead, to celebrate reaching the second page of this blog, I dug into my very old miniature vault and gave this guy a new paint job - anyone remember this model?
So what's next on the painting table? I'm deciding between a deathwing knight and dwarf for the dakka painting challenge and really should finish my dragoons and dunecrawlers that didn't quite get finished. After that maybe I'll finally get some Slaanesh done...
WIP of dwarf lord:
yeah, its a great little model, so much more character than the current dwarves. Not much painting progress on this one over the last couple of weeks - not enough detail on the lower beard for drybrushing so had to paint on the hair which has killed the enthusiasm a bit. Still, got some of the hair done and a bit more on the gold.
I've also finally started on some marines, these three are now basecoated/shaded and the pink and sin are finished. Might actually have them done by the end of the month
Not too much progress, but I did finish the dwarf in time for the painting challenge
And finally I've managed to finish a couple of marines, the first ones of the year which is pretty poor going considering they were supposed to be my main goal. Still, two are better than nothing, will hopefully pick up the pace on these now
when these two are combined with models I'd already finished I now have a battleforged force. OK, it's a minimum sized patrol detachment but a small milestone nonetheless
Not much painting to report but I have been working on a few things. First up is this arcoflagellant conversion I'm going to paint for the painting challenge. I think it fits quite well with the mad science theme
There is also talk of an upcoming Necromunda campaign, so I've been building a few gang members
and here they are with the rest of the gang, models I already had built/painted
Finally, I was passing by a GW yesterday and thought I'd pick up a couple of contrast paints to have a play with. Thought I'd go with some colours to paint up some tyranids as I have quite a few models but never found an enjoyable way of painting them, so might as well have a quick method instead. This is my first attempt, just blue, pink and bone contrast over the grey seer spray
Nothing special but ok tabletop standard and it was quick. The blue looks better in the photo compared to real life, the edges look more highlighted in the picture. I think I'll try using the thinning medium with the blue, or maybe try a light white drybrush before the contrast to make the edges stand out better. I do need to get a pot of the primer colour too as the bone colour really doesn't cover over the pink at all. What do you think of it?
The tyranid looks pretty good, particularly if it was just the 3 paints that you laid down. Looks like they could be a good choice to get through an uninspiring to paint army quickly
yeah, the contrast paints certainly look to be the way to go with my nids. That was just the three paints slapped on and is certainly good enough for table top. I might try some other colours to better match my existing models though.
Just the one model completed recently - this arco flagellant for the painting challenge.
Quite pleased with it, had some fun with some red glazes making the scars and arms look sore which I think was fairly successful. I had intended to add some lighting effects but sadly ran out of time
I've also been sorting out/building up some old nids ready for some contrast action soon
Must have got the sores right from that reaction Gwyn. Thanks for the comments too Youwashock.
I've had a further play with contrast on my tyranids and I'm now happier the contrast models will fit in well enough with my current painted models. Here they are in a little gaunt conga line
Thought I'd let you know the colours used as it's hard to tell what the colours look like on a model when they are in the shop. All use a Grey Seer spray undercoat and Skeleton Horde claws. Bases had a coat of Wyldwood, though will probably still need a drybrush. The gaunt on the left was my first go (Leviadon blue carapace, Volupus pink skin) but the blue was too dark and the skin too pink. The next one is Leviadon blue/talassar blue 1:1 mix, Shyish purple/volupus pink 1:1 - happy enough with the blue, skin was about the right shade but wasn't too happy with the contrast effect. Middle one is same blue with shyish purple/volupus pink/contrast medium 1:1:1 which gives a better contrast effect. The fourth has magos purple skin which is too pale to fit in with current models but couild work well for some genestealer cults skin. Think I'm going to go for the middle one.
Now to build/spray some more to get the army going
I've been sorting out my built but unpainted tyranids and building a few more. Interested to see how quickly I can get these done with the contrast paints
It is quite a few bugs. Sadly not even close to all I have, sorting through I had forgotten how many of these things I bought all those years ago. Most of the big ones are here but plenty of smaller ones still to build. I didn't have as much painting time as I hoped this weekend, but did manage to get everything sprayed, the bases base coated and most of the blue done. Blue doesn't look great but will do for now.
I also need to get started on the painting challenge for this month. The theme is wild world, I'm currently thinking either a beastman or wood elf wild rider - any preferences or other suggestions for this?
Wow. Cranking that group out will be a major accomplishment.
It will indeed, they have been languishing in the cupboard of shame for years. Hopefully more progress soon.
That’s one serious amount of spray you must’ve used! Progress is already light speed compared to me! Oh and Beastmen get my vote ite
Well over a can of spray, I've been using more than usual to get full coverage for the contrast. May be fast, but the quality isn't really there, I struggled getting a consistent coat on the larger chitin plates. I was leaning towards beastmen myself as they are already built.
I vote beastmen, but I have a Minotaur on my desk right now so I might be biased .
That is a true hive fleet right there.
And that second vote confirms it, Beastmen it will be this month. I have one of those warthog things (I forget the real name) which fits the theme really well and I might do some others if there is time
I like that arco flagellant, reminds me of Snorks in the STALKER video games. Although after googling, it seems they had their clothes on.. Still, the gas mask is similar, as is the pose.
Had to google those Snorks but see what you mean mcmattila, definitely a resemblance there.
Been a while since I last posted, but not that much to show for the time away, not found much motivation and the heat hasn't helped either. Have managed a few bits though. First up a couple more contrast nids - gargoyles this time
and I've made a start on getting an inquisition warband together for an upcoming event. Going to have to get on move on on these as the event is only a couple of weeks away, at least it should give me some motivation. So far there are a couple of acolytes, a medic, interrogator and an ogryn bodyguard:
Finally I finished a model for this months Dakka painting challenge. Not the group of five I was intending but at least it's something
Tyranids look good. Jazzed to see some =][= stuff going on. Love that you have used the Locus. Such a great model. Beastman came out very well. I will echo the praise for the fair skintone.
Thanks, I have a project to try that on.....eventually.
No problem, looking forward to see what you have planned
Tyranids look good. Jazzed to see some =][= stuff going on. Love that you have used the Locus. Such a great model. Beastman came out very well. I will echo the praise for the fair skintone.
Yeah the locus is a great model, had to include it in the retinue somewhere. Inquisition stuff is for a narrative 40K event where you need a inquisitor and retinue as part of the army. Went last year and really enjoyed it, good to have an event with more fluffy armies. Good excuse to model up some random dudes. Must dig out last year's retinue for the blog.
Those gargoyles look great, you seem to have found the knack for the contrast paints on nids.
The Beastman looks cool, will his mates also be similarly toned? Great blending in his skin!
A great start on the inquisitor and his retinue. Given the tight turnaround, will they be getting the contrast treatment ?
Thanks gobert, contrast is certainly working well for the little nids, carapaces on the bigger bugs aren't looking too good to be honest. No contrast planned on the retinue - I found with the nids that it takes a lot of trial and error to get the right look before you can get on with the quick painting, not to mention the cost of buying loads more paints! I have a few days off work before the event so hopefully that will suffice...
I've done a bit more building of the retinue, but first up - I've reached page 3 of the blog so time to celebrate by painting a random old mini - this time an old wood elf musician:
Tried to have a go at a crystal blade, went ok for a first try but defintely needs more practice (looks worse in the photos than in real life). Other than that fairly pleased with how it turned out.
The retinue has expanded, just the inquisitor and a familiar to finish. Here are the built models
the familiar so far, still needs some wings, an arm and a lot more work on the green stuff robes (the green stuff robes are new for me as well, only really used it for filling in gaps before. Not really got the skills for it but good learning):
and finally the inquisitor. I didn't want him to be the standard heroic looking inquisitor so I made him small and hunched using a skaven plague monk, though he does look a bit like a child with the big staff, maybe I should reduce its size? Not the finished model as he's going to be riding on a servitor walker thing to make the model stand out a bit more in the retinue
First off, that musician is glorious. The greens are supremely well done. Second, loving the idea of a diminutive Inquisitor leading a group of followers.
I agree, the wood elf looks great, the sword and gems work well together to brighten the model.
The inquisition always struck me as a place where you didn’t have to be double hard. Being overly pious and cruel should work just fine too! Your hunched, twists inquisitor fits the latter bill nicely
Thanks all for comments. Not got much done but some small progress on the inquisitors transport servitor. Still no paint on them and only 8 or so painting days left...
Youwashock - can't really go wrong with red/black/gold, good fallback option when time is short.
Fifty - They are for silent war. Were you at the last one at HATE?
Well, I've pretty much run out of time, only finished five of the models though I'm fairly pleased with how they turned out. The rest are base coated/shaded which will have to do, unless I can find the time for a couple of choice highlights. Don't think I've ever taken a fully finished army to an event, maybe next time..
First up the inquisitor - with more time I would have liked to do more with the I he's standing on, it looks a bit thin:
And the other finished models, a hospitaller, interrogator, familiar and pariah:
Great stuff. The interrogator does not look like someone to trifle with. The globes and vials on the hospitaler are superb, and the fiery little Inquisitor is a treat.
Thanks for the comments all, always good to hear some feedback. The event last week went well with our team coming second, only 2 points (out of around 230) behind the winners. Though winning/losing really comes second to having a good time, particularly in this type of narrative event, and in that respect it was certainly a success. Looking forward to another Silent War next year - might have to start working on a warband soon to make sure I finish the models on time..
Not much in the way of models to show, but I have made a start on this month's dakka painting challenge, metal and wheels, base coats and washes done on this Ravenwing biker
I picked up Warcry when it came out and have just started building some of the terrain. I've told myself I'm not going to play it until everything is painted, hoping that might inspire me to get it done, there is a lot of plastic in that box
I'm also considering doing something for armies on parade as a deadline always helps with progress. Could combine this with the warcry project, maybe adding a few more daemons and or chaos warriors to fill out the board, but I'm also tempted to paint up a load of Imperial defense line terrain I never got around to and maybe some guard to go with it. The 40k option could also include my inquisitor retinue which would help with the motivation to finish the rest off
Finished my painting challenge entry, bit rushed at the end so didn't have time for a few things like freehand on the shoulder pad and energy effects on the sword but it is one more mini off the to do list
Thanks Captain. Long way to go with winning the painting war though..
This week has mainly been building some more Warcry models, now have all the furies and raptoryx built along with most of the buildings. On the painting front I finished some contrast spore mines for the nids and tested a couple of methods for the Warcry terrain on a couple of the small scatter pieces:
Very excited to see you do warcry stuff. I have the splintered fang and corcus cabal ready to get started. Looking foward to the corvus cabal the most.
The contrast has given very neat effect on the terrain. The spore mines look very effective. I once played a friend when Tyranids first came out and fielded 200+ spore mines just for giggles. I used pennies and flipped them from head to tales to show which ones I had moved already. Each time. Moved one I’d ask him “do you surrender yet?” Then go through the random movement of each one. He surrendered about twenty moves into the game and then I got out my real army .
Hey Maharg. Yeah, I was at Silent War at HATE last year. I had the Raven Guard, a few Grey Knights and the pair of old-school terminator inquisitors. What did you take?
Alot of nice stuff in this blog. Your highlights are consistently impressive and clean. Nice work.
Welcome to the blog Squall and thanks for the comments
Very excited to see you do warcry stuff. I have the splintered fang and corcus cabal ready to get started. Looking foward to the corvus cabal the most.
thanks flapjack. It's a good set and I'm looking forward to getting it done - I've told myself I can only play it once it's painted. If I like the game I'll add some more warbands. Look forward to your take on those two bands
The contrast has given very neat effect on the terrain. The spore mines look very effective. I once played a friend when Tyranids first came out and fielded 200+ spore mines just for giggles. I used pennies and flipped them from head to tales to show which ones I had moved already. Each time. Moved one I’d ask him “do you surrender yet?” Then go through the random movement of each one. He surrendered about twenty moves into the game and then I got out my real army .
lol, sounds like a good way to lose friends with that spore army!
It seems I didn't write that last post very well - the walls used very little contrast paint, just tinting a few bottles on the floor, the rest of the walls were done using normal paints. Don't want to give any false impressions as to what contrast can do.
Yes, the contrast paints did a stellar job on the terrain pieces.
another one fooled by my unclear writing! I might try using contrast on another small wall section to see how it comes out though
Hey Maharg. Yeah, I was at Silent War at HATE last year. I had the Raven Guard, a few Grey Knights and the pair of old-school terminator inquisitors. What did you take?
Great to see those models again - that event brings out some cool old models and conversions. I took this Magos and retinue, backed up with some AdMech and Armiger knights:
I've not been very productive this week, just done some base coats and wash on a warcry building and built some Shadespire warbands. Played a few games with the Godsworn Hunt, lost most - usual problem for me with Shadespire, agree a game then don't make a deck beforehand and end up just using the faction specific cards which didn't work well for the hunt. Thankfully my friend was as lazy as me with his deck so it wasn't too painful but the Fyreslayer cards seem a bit more focused and work a bit better. Did manage a draw in one game once I swapped out a couple of cards.
It's been a couple of weeks and I've mainly been building more minis - Shadespire and Warcry warbands are ready to go - but I have finished a couple of things. First up, as mentioned above, I tried using contrast (a Skeleton Horde/Wyldwood mix over Grey Seer spray) to paint a wall:
Passable, but didn't really fit with the other bits so I drybrushed it up along with the rest of the small Warcry terrain bits and now fits in well.
Certainly would have saved time if I'd used this as the basecoat stage for the other buildings in the set, speaking of which I finally finished one of these
My only other finished model was this Fury, just in time for September's dakka painting challenge
Last up, a couple of WIPs - a raptoryx from Warcry that I was hoping to get done in time for the painting challenge but just ran out of time, only the skin to do, and some half done Iron Golems trying out some contrast over metallics on the armour plates, colour chosen simply because I had a pot of Akhelian Green laying around that I had no other use for
Interesting choice of color for the golems. Not a big fan of the original red either. Terrain and the beasts are looking great as well. Keep at the good work.
Interesting choice of color for the golems. Not a big fan of the original red either. Terrain and the beasts are looking great as well. Keep at the good work.
Those Iron Golem guys look fantastic. I like the departure from Khorne-red or straight metallics
Thanks guys. I wanted to avoid the obvious chaos god links with the warcry stuff as none of the warbands are directly associated with any gods. Particularly wanted to avoid khorne for the Golems as that is the most obvious for them. Made a little progress on those two, not much though, just finished the gold:
A couple more warcry bits finished, slowly getting through it..
I've also made a start on this month's dakka painting challenge, just some rough base colours for now. Halloween theme so thought I'd go with some Shadespire Skeletons.
That Pink Chicken Monster (we have to call them Chicken Monsters from now on I think!) looks great, it looks a plausible living creature... as plausible as a chicken monster can be I suppose!
The metallic blue/green works well on the golems too
It's been a while since my last update, I've not been overly productive but have got a few bits done. First up, a couple of contrast nids, fitted these in when I was too tired to concentrate on more detailed painting:
I also made progress on a larger friend for them but no picture as yet. Also got the skin done on the two iron golems, not enough proress for a pic though. I've also started giving a couple of old minis a new paint job as I noticed that I've made it to page 4. More on these soon.
Finally I finished three of the Shadespire Sepulchral Guard in time for the Dakka Painting Challenge, hope to get the other four finished soon:
Thirding the love for the pink raptoryx. Beautiful scheme! The nids look great too; contrast seems almost made for them with all the plates and ridges. Terrain piece also looking smart! Keep it up mate
Tzurk is right, it’s like the contrast paints were made for Tyranids, they look spot on.
The Skellingtons are really nice, I’ve never managed to get bone to look that smooth! Was it more contrast? Tell us your secret! The stand out for me is the highlighting on the shield which looks superb!
Oh and the bases look nice and spooky, was that a blue highlight over the black base?
Tzurk - thanks, the raptoryx is proving surprisingly popular, must get on with the other 5 for a full flock. Contrast is ideal for the kids, certainly the smaller ones. I had some problems with the carapaces on the big bugs, I think I used too small a brush so parts were drying before I could finish a plate resulting in tide marks and patchiness, should be an example off this along soon.
Arakasi- bone was a mix of Rhinox Hide/Ushabti Bone roughly 1:6 mix, watered down Agrax Earthshade wash, reapply initial mix then highlight by adding more bone to the mix. Personally I'm not that happy with it, I like the overall colour but think it needs more contrast - non watered down shade and push the highlights to pure Ushabti bone at least.
Youwashock - thanks. Hope you're not expecting a titan, I've not got anything like that. Tiredness last night and early morning rugby pub trip have delayed painting but hope to have this guy done by tomorrow.
Gobert- thanks, see above for bone. Bases are dark reaper, black wash then drybrushed through dark reaper, thunderhawk blue, fenrisian grey type colours. Can't remember exact recipe
Nothing new to share, just thought I'd get some replies in, hopefully more models.tomorrow
I've got some more minis for you. First up the new page celebration models. Seeing as I'm painting a chaos dwarf in the Iron Golems I thought I'd dig out a couple of old ones. Not too keen on my new paint job for them, overall a bit dark/metal too bright, but I do like the old chaos dwarf models
and talking of the iron Golems I've finally finished the chaos dwarf and ogre
Another contrast nid finished
That's it for now, currently in the painting queue are a couple of Grey Knights for the painting challenge, finishing off the Sepulchral guard and more warcry, maybe an untamed beast this time
Those old Chaos dwarves look like they could easily be Chaos Squats thanks to that missile launcher. I still can’t believe how those Tyranids keep coming out so nice with the contrast paints.
OH wow that big bug boy looks great. So cool that contrast translates across scale well! I love the Chaos Dwarfs too; such great minis and your scheme suits them. Really digging the metallic turquoise.
Thanks for the comments all. Not much painting gone on here for a while, I've managed to injure my hip and sitting down for any length of time isn't a good idea. I have managed a few short sessions though, currently on the painting desk are a couple of Grey Knights for the painting challenge and some Warcry Untamed Beasts
Need to pick up the pace on the Grey Knights, it's half way through the month already. I'm hoping to replicate the scheme of this one I painted a while ago, hope I wrote down (and can find) the recipe for it
Wonderful work on the Warcry stuff Maharg! I'm liking the all those schemes very much. My only criticism is that the blood on the walls is too translucent and pink, it looks more like red wine.
Nice work on the Sepulchral Guard too, especially the rust and the freehand pattern on the shield. Can't help but feel that the models are a bit disjointed from their bases though. Unfortunaltely I don't really know how I'd fix it either.. Maybe drybrushing some gray on the skeletons' feet?
Wow, over a month since my last post - was only kept away from the painting desk for a couple of weeks with the injury but the bad habits lasted a little longer sadly! Thanks for the well wishes.
I did manage to find the Grey Knight recipe and got these two done in time for the November painting challenge. Pleased with how they turned out, particularly the lettering and attempt at a crystal bade (applying the final edge highlights to the painted sword was particularly nerve wracking)
Other than that, nothing else finished, some more progress on warcry bits but not really photo worthy, lost momentum on these so time to do something else as a palette cleanser which is what the painting challenge is good for - this month's theme is 'not as clumsy or random' which I think suits an elf of some sort. I've dug out a few options but haven't decided which to do - Assassin is maybe best fit though I'm currently leaning towards the harlequin or a wood elf. Any preferences for what I should do?
Thanks for helping out with the decision making, looks like the assassin is what I'll be painting for this month's challenge. Away from the challenge, a little progress on my latest project - the Farstriders from Shadespire and some gryph hounds to get them Warcry ready too.
Gobert, Grey Knight armour was a mix of Thunderhawk blue/Ironbreaker. Edge highlights were Russ grey/ ironbreaker then Fenris grey/ironbreaker. Main reason for this is that I struggle with pure metallic silver - it's too shiny! Probably due to bad lighting - If I'm applying the right shade I find I can't see where I'm applying highlights, if I can see where I've put it that means it's too thick/too much of a highlight step. Dulling the metallics down with another colour helps with this.
Good progress so far on the Stormcast.the bases are a great choice of colors to offset the bold colors of the armor. I’ve had trouble getting behind the colors of the Stormcast I’ve painted. I keep trying to do my own color scheme to no avail, might have to do the gold and blue.
Thanks for the comments Youwashock and Theo, glad the bases have gone down well. Not much thought went into the colours really, just done to match my Warcry terrain as that is where these guys will be played. Similarly, classic Stormcast scheme was chosen so little thought was required - I'm not a big fan of Stormcasts so just getting them done is the order of the day and a premade scheme makes that easier. These guys were at the back of my underworlds queue but got pushed forwards due to offering something a bit different to vary up games of warcry.
Now for a little painting progress. I've probably finished my first mini of the year - a Stormcast's best friend, a gryph hound. I say probably as I was considering some sort of markings on the back, leopard spots/stripes or something, not sure whether or not it's necessary. Will call it done for now and reconsider once I've painted the next three
Stormcasts themselves have a few more base colours and shades added and similar progress on the assassin. I've also just started the next gryph hounds
Still need to get around to doing a 2019 summary, hopefully get it done over the weekend
Good progress on the Farstriders. I agree with the others, the bases are great and eyecatching! I say go for the extra markings on the hounds, it adds a lot to a model without being too much work (hopefully).
I admit I am curious how the hound would look with some sort of marking. The color is great, and the paint is well done, but it could really be cool to add that extra bit.
Nice work on mini no1 of 2020! The gryphon hound looks really cool in blue. I don’t think they need stripes/spots, especially if they’re half dog half bird. Ok, maybe Dalmatian spots?
Thanks for the comments guys, I think I'll wait until I've finished the Stormcasts before deciding on the hound markings. If I like the Stormcasts then I'll do a bit extra on the hounds.
Well, this blog has made it to page five, so I've picked another old model to paint up. This time, as Gobert didn't get his way with the painting challenge mini, I've gone with a High Elf Swordmaster
There has been a little progress on the Farstriders and Assassin but no pictures
I've enjoyed looking at other peoples' 2019 summaries, so thought I'd put together a picture of last year's efforts. Overall more than I thought I'd done with 88 models completed if you include the buidings and scatter terrain. Looking at the goals I set myself last year, there were two abject failures and a couple of successes:
50% of the painted models should be for my slaanesh army - big fail, only managed 3 models (3.4%). The Ad Mech army took priority here as it was easier to finish for a couple of events and I didn't want to rush the chaos. That and the fact I'm not always in the mood for painting space marines. Maybe this year will be better for these guys..
Paint twice as much as I buy - well, I painted 88... and bought around 150 Disappointed with this one, but at least keeping a record has made me notice. Must try harder next year
Enter the painting chalenge regularly - 12/12 success, although sometimes this challenge dominated my painting instead of projects I was planning on. Adds some nice variety to the painting desk though
Keep this blog up to date - Made it to p5, so seems a success. The odd gap here and there but overall good
goals for 2020
Paint twice as many models as I buy (and this time I mean it! Maybe I need to come up with a penalty of some kind for if I fail?)
Up the number of modes painted, 100 seems like a reasonable target with 150 as a stretch goal
Continue with the painting challenge (at least 10)
No specific projects this time, just paint what I feel like. Ideally this will be chaos 40K and catching up on Warcry and Underworlds. Contrast Nids could help with the painting numbers
Big Blue in the center makes for a great pic. Congrats on your 2019 minis. Best of luck on bringing the paint/buy ratio together. And the gems on the swordmaster are unreal.
See, I knew the high elf would be a good choice! Those gems are fantastic! That’s something I need to work on this year I think! Great varied haul in 2019, best of luck with the not buying more than you paint... it sounds so easy!
Wonderful work on the Swordmaster! As others have said, the gems are brilliant, but the rest of the model is no less impressive. I think he wouldn't look out of place with the studio minis!
Getting a swordmaster done with Teclis being shown coming soon. I think your doomed . Nice job on your 2019 paint work.
Oh , I hadn't thought about the new elves. Not too worried as I don't play AoS and I've not been too interested in high elves in the past (this one has doubled the number I've painted in my life), though I did enjoy doing this one... And the new models look quite nice, apart from Teclis himself. If the rest of the range turns out good I could be in trouble.
Big Blue in the center makes for a great pic. Congrats on your 2019 minis. Best of luck on bringing the paint/buy ratio together. And the gems on the swordmaster are unreal.
Thanks Youwashock. Most pleasing thing about the gems was how quick they are to do, probably spent more time shaking/opening paints and brush washing than actual painting time!
See, I knew the high elf would be a good choice! Those gems are fantastic! That’s something I need to work on this year I think! Great varied haul in 2019, best of luck with the not buying more than you paint... it sounds so easy!
Thanks Gobert. I nearly changed my entry to a high elf as the assassin is a little fiddly and was getting a bit annoying - I was cursing Youwashock and Captain Brown for voting for him, but also thanking them because the deadline of the painting challenge stopped me from leaving him unpainted on a shelf forever. Definitely give the gems a go, fairly easy as long as you have a small brush
Wonderful work on the Swordmaster! As others have said, the gems are brilliant, but the rest of the model is no less impressive. I think he wouldn't look out of place with the studio minis!
Thanks Mcmattila, though the eyes definitely need some more practice
Limited progress since last time. Assassin just needs the cloak and trousers finishing, only a couple of days left to get this done on time
and the Farstriders are pretty much basecoated and shaded, next up some drybrushing
I've also finished building the rest of the first season of Underworlds, so expect more of these warbands shortly
Thanks for the comments Youwashock, Captain Brown and Gobert. CB, the paint more than you buy goal is only good if you stick to it! More on that later...
First up, I did get the assassin finished in time. Not the best pictures due to only having the phone camera (seems to exaggerate the differences between highlight layers more than other cameras/real life) but will do for now
A little more progress on the Farstriders, not as much as I'd hoped but I've been putting off finishing the gold which is going to be a long step
So, only three models finished this month, well behind the two per week required for the 100 models this year target. Still, at least I've not been buying anything right?
Wrong! This arrived in the post last Friday so I'm behind on the paint more than I buy target too
I've built all the ghosts from these and, while the bases were drying, tried out the paint scheme on a spare component - mainly Shyish Purple contrast paint and contrast medium with a couple of other paints.
Final project on the go is for this month's Dakka Painting Challenge - 'Final Boss'. I've decided to go with this daemon prince
Hope to be back soon with a few more painted models. Thanks for looking
The assassin came out well, do you have any head on shots to see his face?
The purple ghosties look lovely, simple and very effective!
Thanks Gobert. Unusually, given the face is normally the focal point on a model, this one does a good job of hiding it's face behind its arm (which also makes it hard to do much with the face as brush access is limited). Here are a couple of front views, one too dark, the other too light
Damn, everyone has such appropriate models to paint for the Dakka Painting Challenge - 'Final Boss'...
Good luck this month Maharg.
Thanks Captain Brown. It's one advantage of buying more than you can paint - there are always plenty of options for the painting challenge in the cupboard. Would need to be a very obscure category for me not to have something!
The Assassin turned out swell. I really like the look of the ghost, too. Daemon Prince is a veey cool conversion. Looking forward to the paint.
Thanks Youwashock. It's a simple conversion but I'm pleased with how it turned out.
I've finished my first two ghosts, contrast really speeds things up. I only went with two as I was trying out a couple of slightly different shades for the cloaks. Now that's sorted (going with the bigger of the two) I can get on with batch painting the rest. Picture is a bit out of focus and the models look less purple than in real life. I might need to add an improve photography goal for this year
Thanks for the comments on the ghosts Theo, Youwashock, Fifty and Gobert. In a rare burst of activity I've now finished all the spooks from the first two Mortal Realms issues. First up some more chainrasps
and the banshees
and a group shot of the fledgling force
So many ghosts flying around Dakka and I'm amazed what is possible color-scheme-wise. Really nice work, especially loving the candle flames on the one model.
Wow! They look spooktacular (sorry). The different shades of purple work exceptionally well. I look forward to the horde growing as you get more mortal realms magazines
Been a bit busy at work the last few weeks so not a lot done on the painting front, but there has been some progress.
First up, after weeks of procrastinating, I've finally finished the Farstriders
They are the first underworlds warband I've finished, despite having models since it was first released two and half years ago! I have several half finished bands but have always been distracted after the test model so this time I forced myself to do them all together.
I also finished my Daemon Prince for the painting challenge - a bit rushed on deadline day so there are some things I would have done more on with more time, but I'm calling it finished anyway
Up next are more ghosts, some tyranids and a space marine for the March painting challenge
Amazing how the addition of the Daemonette claws and some wings really changes that Ctan miniature.Great colour choices really well executed as well. I am envious of the smoothness of your work.
That surely is a slaneesh daemon prince, if ever I saw one Nice clean work, had already seen it in the painting comp thread, the texture on the claws is superb!
Thanks for the comments guys, appreciate the feedback.
I've not been in a painting mood the last few weeks, but the dakka painting challenge deadline has got me going again. First job was to finish some gargoyles that had been sitting on the painting bench for weeks, just a simple contrast job:
I also finished my entry for the challenge, my first Primaris marine. I struggled a bit with the freehand chapter symbol on the shoulder but I think it came out ok in the end. The model was also annoyingly shiny for some reason making photography more of a challenge than normal. Think I need to invest in some matt varnish
Currently on the bench are some spooks and stormcast. Hopefully won't be another 3-4 weeks this time before I do something
Nice job, good work on the edge highlights. I always forget to make the corners brighter so well done persevering with all of them! The chapter symbol looks pretty good to me. I’m planning some fists terminators, did you follow a tutorial or make up the process for the symbol?
Thanks guys. I was pleased with hoe the black turned out, particularly the back view - the Intercessor model really helped with this, it has really crisp well defined edges which really help with edge highlighting.
Gobert, for the chapter symbol I found a guide for painting a banner which was useful for showing the basic flat shape:
It got too detailed after that for use on a shoulder pad so I used a sculpted pad to help with the dark outlines/shapes
Then just added highlights to better define the shape. I wouldn't like to do this for a whole squad though, one pad looked quite good but I'm not sure I have the skills to get five or more looking the same. I'd probably use transfers! That's the useful thing about the Deathwatch, each pad will be from a different chapter so no worries about repeating the same symbol
Not a lot of painting progress but I have made a start on some Stormcast Eternals. Thought I'd go for a slightly different colour scheme on these ones as they are from a different chamber, but keeping the gold armour so they still tie in with the Farstriders, just in case I ever expand them into a small army
Also in the painting queue are some Underworlds warbands for the dakka painting challenge. The theme is pile of shame and these guys have been sitting around for a while - I have all the first two seasons warbands but have only finished one warband so these fit well. We'll see how many I can get through
Thanks Maharg, I think you might be right that whilst one is doable, 7 for my squad will probably come out looking varied. Will retry the press mould I think.
Gold and purple is always a good choice, the storm says have started off well
Excited to see how far you will get with those Underworld warbands. They have some lovely sculpts and I recently got the Kharadron to have some alternative sculpts for WarCry.
Nice work on the edging for that Crimson Fist Deathwatch.
Thanks Fifty
Thanks Maharg, I think you might be right that whilst one is doable, 7 for my squad will probably come out looking varied. Will retry the press mould I think.
Gold and purple is always a good choice, the storm says have started off well
Don't let me put you off giving the freehand a go Gobert, you may not find it as tricky as I did. Press mould sounds interesting though, good luck whichever you go for. Yeah, gold and purple is a classic, it is just sort of a rejig of my marines though, particularly as I've added pink to the stormcasts.
Nice fist there Maharg
Thanks CB
Excited to see how far you will get with those Underworld warbands. They have some lovely sculpts and I recently got the Kharadron to have some alternative sculpts for WarCry.
Not too far so far Viterbi, see below. They are nice sets of models, I keep buying them for painting projects but never getting round to them, hence a good entry for pile of shame. Look forward to seeing your take on the Kharadon
So, I'm still struggling a bit with painting motivation, keep finding other distractions but did get some done over Easter. Firstly a little progress on the Stormcast, all the base colours and shading are done:
I also finished my first model for the painting challenge, one of the Godsworn Hunt and made a start on the rest of the people in the warband but still not sure what to do with the dog.
Loving the muted palette on the Godsworn! Makes the splashes of colour in the hair and fur really pop. In contrast, also loving the extreme edge highlighting on the Fist. Keep it up mane
Good start on the SCE and love your colors on the Godsworn Hunt. Especially nice work on the skin, doing that in dark colors isn't that easy (in my experience).
Good work on the Godsworn. You’ve just reminded me that I’ve got a bunch of the guys that inspired the archer. The gobbo’s bases look fantastic so far. Purple was a bold choice but they look amazing so far. I’m sure the little guys on top will be even better!
The Hunt looks awesome, but, oh man, those purple bases are too good. Perfect for all those wild fungi.
Thanks Youwashock. I like the purple bases too, hopefully they will fit with my chosen colours for the models. Hopefully find out this weekend.
I echo that, the Hunt is very nice Maharg.
Thanks Captain
Godsworn hunt came out great! There is some stiff competition this month.
Thanks Arakasi. There is always some stiff competition in the challenge, your chaos warriors included.
Wow, the Warband looks great, love the bold hair color choices! You'd expect them to drop a heavy metal album next month
Thanks Viterbi. Bold hair was kind of forced on me once I'd decided to try out the darker skin tone paints - the models were pretty much all varying shades of brown and needed something to break it up.
Good work on the Godsworn. You’ve just reminded me that I’ve got a bunch of the guys that inspired the archer. The gobbo’s bases look fantastic so far. Purple was a bold choice but they look amazing so far. I’m sure the little guys on top will be even better!
Thanks Gobert. What models were the inspiration? Was it some of those old chaos Thugs? Would like to see you tackle those once the Terminators are done
So, no painting update since last time (damn you work!), my minimal hobby time was taken up fiddling with some conversion ideas. My mate told me that the new Silent War rules were up so I started rummaging around for bits for a new inquisitor and retinue. Here is a quick mock up for the basis of the inquisitor
The last two have been a bit odd (Magos with rocket in place of his legs and last year's little guy on servitor platform) so I went for something more normal. Think he looks quite imposing. Will need the head removing to make it look less like a chaplain, not sure how easy this will be on a metal model, might need to get a resin replacement for this. Still need to decide on composition and models for the retinue. And maybe a new army for them to fight alongside... I've taken my admech to the last two so would be good to use something else but don't have another imperium army. I'd only need 1200pts but with my painting speed this along with a retinue seems unlikely - maybe something like Grey Knights or Custodes would be low model count enough? We'll see. At least the Admech are there as a backup.
Also on the painting bench is this fellow - only a year or so after he was first mentioned in this blog. The painting challenge theme this month is old-school cool which this model fits rather well being old and cool (and I was probably in school when I got him)
That's it for now, hopefully some painting progress by Sunday
The world needs more zoats, so I look forward to you working through this one. The inquisitor looks really cool, but I think you’re right to want to swap his head. A metal terminator is about as hard a head swap as they come I’d imagine! The archer looks uncannily like the Chaos Archers from BattleMasters, I fancy some Chaos after these Terminators, might give them a go
Inq mockup looks very tough. It is a tough call, since I really like the skull, but the profile is so recognizable as a chaplain it is hard to not want to change it. And it WILL be a pain to get out of there in metal. Looking forward to zoat progress!
Lovely work on the Godsworn, I always get a kick out of warbands where the fighters have individual colors! The Stormcasts and Mollog seem to be coming along great, too!
I'm really liking the Inquisitor mock-up as a model, he looks just as badass as the original model. As for the skull, I'm with youwashock - on one hand it's a great skull helmet, on the other it's really recognizable..
Thanks for the comments guys. The skull helmet is definitely going, but don't fancy the job on metal. Sadly the resin one is out of stock at the moment so this project will be put on hold for now
Has it really been over 3 weeks since I last posted here, not quite sure where the time has gone. I have got a little done in that time, starting with Mollog
and with his mob
.
The only other finished model was this orc for the drunken master challenge on the painting and modelling page. 2hrs to drink some booze and paint a model Challenge open until the end of the month if you're feeling thirsty this weekend
Other than that, the zoat has been started (borrowing Arakasi's lava base method with a slight change, drybrushing the black on to let some red come through to make the top look like it's still warm. Did some trials with tinting the martian Ironearth to make it brighter but didn't use it in the end. Forgot to take photos of the trials so will have to put them in the next post)
I've built a Stormraven and started painting and also built a few retinue members for my still to be built inquisitor
I thought that Zoat basing effect looked familiar!
Yeah, your blog saved me a lot of experimenting, thanks! This month's challenge will be all my own work, promise!
I am absolutely in love with all of that post.
Shroom. Grape Giant. Old school BB orc. ZOAT! Robo-dino. Assassin gal. Crazy crusty gunslinger. It all rules.
That's a great update, Mollog's purpleishness looks perfect and I love the other stuff and from that bunch of course the T-REX WITH WEAPONS
Thanks both, glad you liked them
Got the zoat finished in time for last month's paiting challenge
No more work done on the inquisition or stormcast, got distracted by Spiteclaw's swarm. Nothing too exciting on the rats as I painted them to fit in with a skaven army I started (but of course never finished - the tails were too much for me) but quite pleased with how the bases turned out
Up next is a wood elf standard bearer for the June painting challenge and some ghosts, WIP below
Ratsassins are looking great, Zoat is nicely painted and interesting to see in contrast to the new model with all the futuristic gubbins. Excited for the standard bearer, flags are fun (or so I've heard on TV).
In a rare occurrence for me, the models to be photographed shelf was starting to overflow so an update must be well overdue.
First though, a model that wasn't on the shelf, my wood elf standard bearer completed in time for June's painting challenge. I was pleased with the elf itself but less so with the banner. The main problem, I think, is the colour choice for the banner design - went with the same green elsewhere on the model to tie it all together but a pale brownish green doesn't stand out from the pale yellow/brown background. I wasn't in the mood to redo it so it'll have to do
I've finally finished the stormcast I started 4 months ago, glad to finally get these off the painting desk
The main reason for the overflowing photo shelf is that the contrast paints have seen heavy use to add nighthaunt and a couple of tyranids
Thorns of the Briar Queen
Glavewraith Stalkers
Reapers
Dreadblde Harrows and Banshee
Ravener and spore mine
Currently at the head of the painting queue are more stormcast (hopefully won't take another 4 months as I think one or more will be my painting challenge entry for this month), contrast nids and a new addition for my Admech
That’s a good haul of finished minis, those stormcast look great in gold and purple, but I might be biased! The dark purple on the ghosties looks great, that contrast works well on them.
Thanks for the comments everyone. I do seem to have a bit of a purple obsession at the moment, not really intentional, just the way it's turned out. It happened before with green (green necrons to match the glowing rods, orks then dark angels) so Theo's comment is particularly apt.
Youwashock, contrast used on the ghosts are mainly Black templar and shyish purple with contrast medium with a little pink here and there, all over grey seer base. Surprisingly little magos purple, so far its only been used on the Briar Queen's vine, though could have used it on the banshee's hair (that was initially done in watered down pink but it didn't fit so it was fixed by adding thinned shyish over the top. End result was pretty much magos purple). Robes are painted black/medium (3:2 mix) then lightly drybrushed with grey seer to pick out robe edges followed by shyish/medium (2:3) - gives an almost black robe with purple highlights. Wood is pure shyish, then everything else in shyish/medium - lighter robes are 1:2, metals are 1:3 over Ironbreaker and skin/bones are 1:5.
Gwyn, purple on Stormcast is 1:1 Screamer Pink/Phoenician purple, shaded with Druchii Violet. Robes are highlighted mixing in Zandri Dust to the base colour in several stages. Shoulder pads edge highlighted mixing in Emperors Children then Fulgrim Pink
I got some more nids finished this week
which takes me over 80 minis for the year so the year to date shelf is looking quite full
Not much progress on the Stormcast, just a start on some base colours. Only one weekend left for the painting challenge so I think a unit of them is out of the question, going to have to speed one up so I get something done. The next batch of tyranids are also on the painting bench
Thanks for the comments everyone. The contrast has certainly helped with the pace and helps provide more variety - nids and ghosts help with the positive feeling of rapid progress and getting battle ready forces in a relatively quick (at least for me) time, everything else scratches that painting itch.
Things have slowed down the last couple of weeks with just a single model finished, this chap for the dakka painting challenge (voting now up for that one, I recommend taking a look in the painting and modelling page - there are some great models again this month)
For this month's challenge I'm going with Eldar of some sort. I might paint them all but that might be a little ambitious. Not sure who to do first, the archon is most in my comfort zone with lots of edge highlighting, though part of the point of the challenge is to, well, challenge myself so maybe the shadowseer should be first up?
Those purple Nighthaunt look great on the sand bases.
The standard bearer has great shading and highlighting, in terms of really making the edges and depths stand out. I think the banner itself is very good, actually. Trouble is, why no purple?
Thanks for the comments everyone. I was pleased with the how the sequitor turned out, though they do take a while to paint and I'm falling a long way behind on the Stormcast part of the Mortal Realms collection. Going to have to focus on them a bit more to catch up.
I think you might have got to the bottom of my wood elf issues Fifty, no purple. Could be an interesting challenge to do a purple one and not have it look like a dark elf.
I've still not decided on which eldar to paint up, I've been distracted by some more tyranids. Going to try out the 40k crusade rules at the weekend and so need a 50 power army so seemed a good motivation to finish up some units to field a fully painted force. The contrast paints came out for these guys
and I had some half done models from my last try at nids so finished these off the pre contrast way
which takes me over the 100 model mark for the year
Good work on the Tyranids, as youwashock says they look hard to differentiate style wise at arms length. Great effort to get past 100 models too!
Purple Wood Elves sounds totally doable. New 'Nids look good. BC and AC styles don't seem to clash.
Thanks, made some effort mixing up pots of contrast for the 'nids' skin and carapace to make sure they fitted in with the old models. Only problem is, once they run out I'm in trouble as I can't remember the mix...
Congrats on reaching the triple digits milestone and that is a good looking tranid force, enjoy the crusade!
Thanks Viterbi. The tyranids didn't enjoy their crusade outing, getting hammered by some Word Bearers. The little guys just couldn't hurt the marines (and this is without the second wound!) and died very quickly in return. Might do ok against non marines, but going to have to add some more heavy hitters to cope with marines though. Still, gives me some direction when expanding the force. Played a few more crusade games with a few armies, overall enjoying the smaller games.
Good work finishing those Tyranids Maharg.
Thanks Captain, it's good to finally have a small force painted up. Plenty more to go before the tyranid backlog is finished though
Not too much painting here the last couple of weeks. There are of course a couple more 'nids, this time a termagant, couple of genestealers and some things for the 'stealers to hide in
Other than that, I've been procrastinating on starting the Eldar as I'm not too sure how I want to do them. Only one week to decide on that and get something done now. Instead, I had a play with an old Necron warrior trying out some sponged battle damage,copper and OSL. Sponging looked ok on the shoulder pads but was too clumsy, particularly for the head. Useful tool for bigger surfaces but I'll have to try painting on chips next time. Pleased with the positioning of the OSL but I definitely need more practice with the getting the glazing the right consistency - this one looks more like blood in places, particulalrly as the thinning medium made it shiny
I started another necron for more practice, not too keen how it looks at the moment but hopefully more work on the greys will make it all fit in better
As it turns out, this Necron practice was well timed as this arrived in the post this week, providing yet more distraction from the Eldar
Couldn't resist getting an Intercessor built. I really like these models, big and imposing like a marine should be. Finally enough types of Primaris marine that I like to consider building a viable small force. Got most of the base colours and shading done
Cool scheme for the Necrons, the OSL stuff looks tricky to get right. Part of it might be that the source is much brighter than the reflection. I know it’s supposed to be, but it could maybe do with a bit of the orange? The Verdigris and chipping look pretty spot on to me though.
What chapter will the Primaris be? He looks a bit like a dark Blood Angel, really cool so far!
The eyes on the new Primaris are just popping. Like the Tyranid egg clusters, too.
Thanks Youwashock. The eyes are the only bit I've finished - need to be done early to save blue mishaps ruining finished helmet, I'm not usually neat enough to avoid mistakes!
Cool scheme for the Necrons, the OSL stuff looks tricky to get right. Part of it might be that the source is much brighter than the reflection. I know it’s supposed to be, but it could maybe do with a bit of the orange? The Verdigris and chipping look pretty spot on to me though.
What chapter will the Primaris be? He looks a bit like a dark Blood Angel, really cool so far!
Thanks Gobert. It was interesting to try the OSL - I did try adding some orange to the chest after I took the pictures and it did help a bit. I'm hoping to avoid this next time by going for a more orange light source so the glow isn't so similar to blood. Marine is going to be a blood angel, hopefully he'll look redder once the highlights go on
Love the purple, really vibrant
Thanks davetheblaster45, welcome to the blog
Nice derelict Necron, chipping looks great and the Oxide paint gives it a really old and worn look.
Thanks Viterbi. Think I'll try a little less chipping next time on the head but overall happy with how it came out.
The Eldar procrastination continued most of last week with a few more termagants painted and a handful of ghosts built
Finally, with the deadline looming, I managed to finish the Farseer. The Archon and Shadowseer will have to wait for another time
Got a few more bits painted up this week, first up the normal tyranid addition, this time a few hormagaunts
I also painted up some old chaos blood bowl models. I had half a team painted a few years ago but never got around to finishing them. I think I got a fairly good match between the old and new additions. The freshly painted models:
and with the older models
Still a few more models to be added, a couple of beastmen and a few star players, hopefully won't be another few years before they are done
Automatically Appended Next Post: hmm, pictures look a little blurry here, odd as they don't look that bad in the gallery. Good enough for now though, will take more once the rest of the team is done
Those Blood Bowl guys look great, they seem to fit in really well with their team mates too. The nids really work with Contrast, you’re really turning them over quickly now!
Love the BB minis, they have a lot of character. They kind of remind me of something that could jump out of one of the early Discworld novels, when it was foremost an 80's fantasy parody.
Thanks for all the comments.
The contrast has been flowing here again, ghosts this time instead of the usual tyranids
And there is another set in progress
Hopefully I'll get these finished off quickly then I need to get on with this month's painting challenge. Theme is 'long war', frontrunners are currently a dreadnought and/or helbrute though that may well change for something smaller given we're half way through the month already
With Halloween on the way, you could say you are really getting into the "spirit" of things. They look great! Contrast is really pulling it's weight with these guys.
It's been a few weeks since my last post, with a few models painted and games played.
First up, I finished that last lot of ghosts
Next up is a squad of marines, a few rhinos and a land raider! Not as impressive as it sounds, got talking with a friend about old games of epic and so had a rummage in the cupboard and found I still had enough stuff to make up a couple of small armies of Space Marines and Squats. Painted these as some test pieces to get used to the small scale
and here they are with what little I had painted from years ago - it's the beginning of an army at least
I also got a couple of games in with the spooks, went with Dragon Rampant for the rules. First game was against some humans
All starts well with the ghosts swarming all over the village and the men failing a lot of activation rolls
Then followed a period when I forgot to take any pictures and the tables turned, leaving me my general making a folorn final charge into the waiting guns...
It didn't go well!
Second game was against some undead and my photography was even more lacking. This time my spooks surged forwards again and were successful, leaving the enemy general alone and surrounded
Nice opposing army, mixing undead and chaos models, here are a couple of the units. I love the tiny heads!
All the above left me very little time for the dakka painting challenge this month, so I did a bit of a rush job on a bloodletter. Not too happy with it but ok considering the last minute paint job
Currently on the painting bench are some more epic marines to finish up a couple of squads, then I need to think what to do for this months Halloween themed painting challenge. I'm currently thinking some old random GW stuff - devils, fishmen etc
Oh, man. Look at those lil' guys. Can't wait to see more, especially Squats and those Terminators. Your ghosts look sweet on the table. Bloodletter looks good, too. Good luck in the comp!
The mini marines look good, are they a Dark Angels successor chapter? What’s with the bases on the WIP stuff? Something to make holding them easier?
The Letter and the ghosties look good, surely you’ve got a big ghost somewhere for this months competition?
The battle report looks great, some really cool terrain you guys have. It really enhances the look of the battle. Your friends Chaos Undead look amazing, the glowing skull heads are a great idea
Oh, man. Look at those lil' guys. Can't wait to see more, especially Squats and those Terminators. Your ghosts look sweet on the table. Bloodletter looks good, too. Good luck in the comp!
Thanks Youwashock. I'm slowly getting through the mini marines, though finding the infantry a bit of a slog. It's a bit off putting thinking forward to the squats as the infantry has lot more to it than the marines - marines are at least one colour but the squats have faces, beards and more that needs picking out. Still motivated for now as the idea of having a fully painted epic game for the first time ever is quite appealing
The mini marines look good, are they a Dark Angels successor chapter? What’s with the bases on the WIP stuff? Something to make holding them easier?
The Letter and the ghosties look good, surely you’ve got a big ghost somewhere for this months competition?
The battle report looks great, some really cool terrain you guys have. It really enhances the look of the battle. Your friends Chaos Undead look amazing, the glowing skull heads are a great idea
Thanks Gobert. Mini marines are normal dark angels. Extra bases are for holding the models - I usually paint my bases first to avoid drybrushing over painted models, but the painted bases then get damaged by handling during painting so I use a larger base (never liked the feel of a painting handle. Terrain is all my friend's, most I've done is contribute some 40k terrain kits for the 40k set. If it was left to me we'd still be playing with books for hills...
Nice battle pics and all those epic armies cropping up in so many plogs wakes a desire to have one as well Color scheme looks cool!
Thanks. An epic marine army in your space marine colours would look great, you know you want to do it
This week I've been slowly plodding through the mini marines and have finished the terminator detachment. I also realised I hadn't done any contrast 'nids for a few weeks so rectified that with a couple of raveners
some progress on the tactical detachment and librarian and my blood angel intercessor has got a bit more red (needed a break from the little guys), though still a long way to go on that one
Contrast nids are brilliant as usual. Really tempted to start a new army...
Thanks for the in game pics, I always love seeing painted models on the table!
A really lively mix in here between the epic, fantasy and 40k stuff. Space marine is looking really rich atm, lovely tones. Speaking of red - the bloodletter's flesh has some great depth to it too. Is that just layering there, or washes/more contrast? I love it either way. The matching sword is an interesting touch.
You're really getting work done with those Contrast paints! And everything looks so good, the ghosts and the giant Tyranids behind the tiny Marines especially!
Nice work all around. I never tried to paint epic models, I'm bad at the larger scale already, I don't need to be bad at various sizes .
I really like what you did with the chaos skeletons, it's a refreshing take on both ranges. Now you need a two headed...though one could be amputated on the ground....skeletal chaos dragon
It's been a bit of a barren painting spell for me the last couple of months, just wasn't in the mood for it. Shame really as there has been lots of extra spare time with the latest lockdown. All I managed for the rest of October was this group of 80's GW monsters for the painting challenge.
November was a little better with another set of ghosts painted and more built and my 'saints and sinners' painting challenge entry.
That looks a pretty good haul to me. The pink hair on the ghosts is really cool. Not as cool as the Skeleton holding his skull or the fanatic! Nice freehand eagle on the scroll too
Great update, especially loving the priest model. Need to find that sculpt someday for my sisters army, it's so full of character. And the 80's monsters look just lovely.
That preacher mini was one of my favourite's in this month's challenge, really given him some crazed vibes and the weathering on the chainsword is well done.
Thanks for the comments everyone, glad the priest went down well, it was really enjoyable to paint such a characterful mini.
I can't believe its been another three weeks since my last post, but at least I've got some stuff done. Firstly I got another 25 or so ghosts built and I've been working through painting them:
Next up is more contrast action with more spooks and some tyranids along with finishing this dwarf
and some/all of these guys for this month's painting challenge
Another good looking haul Maharg. The 3 to a base ghosts look really sinister and the bits in their base look cool. The dwarf looks like he’s spent too much time on a sun bed so far, but I guess he’s either a Chaos Dwarf or an Avatar or the skin is WIP? I’m intrigued to see where to hot with the Elves
I love how your Nighthaunt look. They are almost the opposite of mine, but I bet they'd look good squaring off against each other.
A few guys at my club play Dragon Rampant. Is it a goood game for making use of Nighthaunt models?
I also like seeing your Epic dudes. I have a bunch from the early nineties in the same colour schemes, but the thought of going back to them now just feels scary.
The contrast paints have been out again here with more spooks and a couple of nids finished
I also made a start on the Swordmasters, I'm going with a classic scheme to go with the one I painted earlier in the year. Early days, not even finished all the basecoats yet, hopefully they'll be base coated and shaded by Xmas. Also on the painting bench are yet more ghosts and some hormagaunts
Thanks Gobert. No special treatment for the broodlord, must just be an ideal model for contrast.
I hope everyone had a good Christmas - fairly qiet one here so I got quite a few models done, reaching 251 for the year!
First of all, I finished this Swordmaster for the Dakka Painting Challenge. Only one of the five completed - the vision in one eye got worse after Christmas making any detailed work very hard. Thankfully it got back to it's normal, only slightly blurred, state (need a trip to the opticians once the covid situation gets better) in time to get this one done
Whilst the eye was playing up I got on with more contrast painting as this doesn't require such exact brushwork, getting more ghosts and tyranids painted up
Once the elf was done I still had time to finish up some almost complete models - some Underworlds skeletons started for the 2019 painting challenge halloween entry, an orc for the same game (started a good three years or so ago!) and some tiny marines
Sorry to hear about your eyes, hopefully they’re getting better now. The Elf looks great, the Ork is particularly great though, nice and beat up! 251 is a great quantity for the year, well done... assuming the Epic marines don’t count individually!. Even if they do, it’s still a great number
Sorry to hear about your eyes, hopefully they’re getting better now. The Elf looks great, the Ork is particularly great though, nice and beat up! 251 is a great quantity for the year, well done... assuming the Epic marines don’t count individually!. Even if they do, it’s still a great number
Heh, It was tempting to count the epic marines individually, particularly when I was lagging behind on models painted:bought
All those ghosts are a testament not only to the power of Contrast, but to your work ethic. Solid job.
Love love love the Broodlord.
Thanks Youwashock. Contrast has certainly helped with number of models painted, great for horde armies like the 'nids and ghosts. I don't think I would have bothered with either of those two forces if I had to use regular paints.
It's a new year so time for a review of 2020 and some goals for this year. As usual there were some successes and failures from last year's targets
1) paint twice as many models as I buy - despite painting 251 models this year I was not even close on this one as I ended up buying 251 as well! It needed a real push in December to break even. Main purchasing culprits were the Mortal Realms subscription (I initially planned to stop after 10/14 issues but I enjoyed the ghosts so carried on with it) and Indomitus (none of this is painted ) However, it is an improvement on 2019 where I bought almost twice what I painted so heading in the right direction. Keeping a tally of painted/bought throughout the year did help curb the spending and provided some painting motivation so I'll keep on doing that this year
2) Up the number of modes painted, 100 seems like a reasonable target with 150 as a stretch goal - Well past these numbers - thanks Contrast!
3) Continue with the painting challenge (at least 10) - Something entered every month. Often entries were a bit rushed or I lacked the motivation so it wasn't always my best work each month. Surprisingly I did get a couple of fourth places - the primaris deathwatch and farseer, seems people like my black minis.
Time for the picture summary, starting with the largest group - the nighthaunt. Over 2000pts in a year is exceptional going for me
More contrast action in the form of the tyranids. I was especially glad to get those gargoyles finished
Having owned Warhammer Underworlds models since it first came out three years ago, I finally completed my first warband last year (Farstriders) then more followed.
Along with underworlds warbands, the painting challenge also helps add variety to the painting desk
Finally some Stormcast and half a blood bowl team
goals for this year, just the two
1) Keep up the run of entering the dakka painting challenge each month. After a couple of fourth places it would be nice to get a podium, but with the abilities of many of the regulars there this is not likely
2) Paint more than I buy. Again. I mean it this time...
I'm going to try to follow the rule that I can only buy models for an army once I've painted what I have - maybe a big purchase if I finish everything I have for an army or a small one for reaching 500pts. I'll have to work out equivalent rules for smaller scale games.
That's all for now, thanks for looking and Happy New Year!
250+ minis painted is a cracking year all told Maharg. That is one hell of a Nighthaunt army that Mortal Realms has provided you with, I abandoned my sub relatively early as the amount of miniatures it provides is huge.
I am really digging the Stormcast and their colour scheme and also the Old School Chaos BloodBowl team, much better sculpts than the current plastic team IMO.
Best of luck in sticking to your resolutions in the coming year.
250+ minis painted is a cracking year all told Maharg. That is one hell of a Nighthaunt army that Mortal Realms has provided you with, I abandoned my sub relatively early as the amount of miniatures it provides is huge.
I am really digging the Stormcast and their colour scheme and also the Old School Chaos BloodBowl team, much better sculpts than the current plastic team IMO.
Best of luck in sticking to your resolutions in the coming year.
Thanks. Not all of the spooks were from the magazine, I got a little carried away and bought a big army box too! Glad you like the stormcast, I like it too though not sure how many of these will get done as they do take a while to paint. I definitely want to get the Cursebreakers done for Underworlds then add a few archers to have all the options for a Warcry warband too. The rest might well sit in the cupboard of shame for years to come..
Wow! They look great all together, the contrast method certainly helps up the numbers pretty well. Best of luck with the hobby resolutions
Thanks Gobert. Contrast has certainly sped things up and lockdowns and generally staying in has given a lot more time too
Great recap and hope the eyes are getting better soon!
Nighthaunts look so cool in your scheme, love the group shot of everyone together.
Thanks Viterbi. They use a slightly more complicated scheme for contrast so glad to hear the extra work is worthwhile
"paint twice as many models as I buy" - that's what I need for this year. Impressive output for 2020 - quantity and quality - well done.
Thanks. It's a commonly made resolution here but I've never managed it. Maybe this is the year?
First update of the year and I've finished my first model - a Northstar miniatures dwarf. I got his and four others for Xmas from a friend. I made these a priority to finish these early on as traditionally I build the minis he gets me but almost never get around to painting them. Time to break that tradition!
Other than that I've been building the other four dwarfs along with a couple of Underworlds warbands. I'm thinking of painting one or more of the Sylvaneth for this month's painting challenge. The theme is new tricks, so at a basic level it's a new faction for me and I'm thinking of doing some OSL effects for a new technique though these might be a bit complicated for learning this
Ooh, that dwarf is really cool. His shield is simple but I think it looks fantastic. Well done for breaking the tradition of not painting the gifted minis too. Best of luck with the OSL
Beautiful work on that dwarf's face! Congrats on a productive 2020 - so many interesting armies in one blog - and good luck this year too! OSL is on my to-do list to experiment with at some point too. Sylvaneth are definitely an interesting medium for it rather than plasma guns or bionic eyes. Excited to see what you come up with!
Thanks everyone. It's been a while since my last post, I struggled with motivation in January, if it wasn't for the painting challenge I don't think I would have painted anything. I didn't fancy experimenting on the sylvaneth, that can wait for later in the year. Instead I painted a few more dwarf warriors
Painting motivation hasn't struck yet this month either, but at least I've built a few things - a small high elf army for use in Oathmark, some hormagaunts and a few small bits of terrain
I think I'll try painting the gaunts and terrain bits first, something simple to get me back painting, then on to this guy for the showing off themed painting challenge
It's been over a month and while I've not been that productive I have got a few bits done. First up are the little pieces of scatter terrain and the contrast paints came out to knock out a few 'nids
I also got the Flash Git finished in time for the painting challenge. It was a little rushed in the end but turned out fairly well and some good practice for some chipping and weathering
On the painting bench at the moment is some more scatter terrain and a Space Marine for the painting challenge
Great to see some Tyranids, the scheme is really cool. I enjoyed that Flash Git for the painting challenge, he's a clean paint job but suitably weathered too. Good start on the marine as well, that panel lining is ace.
Great to see some Tyranids, the scheme is really cool. I enjoyed that Flash Git for the painting challenge, he's a clean paint job but suitably weathered too. Good start on the marine as well, that panel lining is ace.
Thanks Tyranid Horde. I just went with the old school tried and tested genestealer blue and purple scheme for the nids, simple and effective. The all contrast method makes them fairly quick too. Going to have to up my game with the marine having seen the wip from yourself and others in the challenge
Progress is progress Maharg...whatever the amount or speed.
Flash Git turned out really well.
Thanks Captain Brown. Usually slow progress here, but it's better than nothing.
This week I painted up a few small bits of terrain, should be useful for some games of Warcry once the lockdown is over. I tried to add a moss/lichen patch on one of them to break up the stone colour - looks ok but I think would look better covering much more of the models which was more effort than I was willing to do, so instead I just flicked a few blood splatters on the rest of the pieces and called it a day
And a little bit of work on the marine, his armour is slightly more red now, not that you can really tell from a poorly lit and focussed picture
That Flash Git certainly lives up to his name, very impressive weathering on him. The Marine looks great as well, is he a BA? If so I admire the more sombre red.
Great clean work on that Marine. Flashy turned out sweet! Magnificent yellow.
Your terrain looks great, as do the Northstar Dwarf. The Flashgit is awesome, great bit of painting, the skintone is so nice.
The yellow on the git is fantastic, great job. The terrain looks great, and quickly knocked out. Marine is looking redder already
That Flash Git certainly lives up to his name, very impressive weathering on him. The Marine looks great as well, is he a BA? If so I admire the more sombre red.
Thanks Youwashock, Robertsminis, Gobert and Listentomewarriors. I can't take the credit for the yellow and skin recipes as the model was painted copying an old White Dwarf Eavy Metal masterclass article. Its quite fun trying to replicate these, I don't have the skills to emulate the finished model but I always learn something. The marine is going to be a Blood Angel Listentomewarriors. The plan is for it to get more red, probably using pure red for the edge highlights.
I haven't got a lot done the past week, just a little progress on the marine - got a few of the smaller details done and he's now a little more red. Time for a familiar but slightly altered picture
Only a few days until the painting challenge deadline so I'll need to pick up the pace
Pace was picked up and the marine is now finished, so this will put an end to the run of the same picture of a marine with almost imperceptible changes! I am pleased with how the armour turned out, struggled slightly with getting photos to show the correct colour, these aren't bad but not quite red enough when viewed on my computer (looks about right on my phone though, maybe my computer is the issue?). I struggled with the freehand chapter symbol on the right shoulder - fiddley wing pattern combined with the need for symmetry was too much for my skills. I gave up trying to get it perfect, instead I tried to hide the mistakes with the application of battle damage. Not sure I got away with it
Now to decide whether I can be bothered to paint the rest of the Indomitus marines like this or if I need to go for something a little less time consuming
That’s a lovely red you’ve achieved Maharg, nice and dark, but still red. The gradient on the colour are very smooth with the edge highlighting finishing him off well. The chapter symbol is impressive freehand, I’d say the damage has hidden any imperfections well. Good luck in the comp