It's not actually that fast - 2 years, and the game has gone through several iterations (we don't count v0, for example). The larger bases: leaders can be on 40 or 60mm bases, their zone of Inspire is reckoned from their base size, so you choose maneuverable but less directly influential or more stationary but more controlling. Bring on the tiny magnets!

BUT I think the price pointing is way off. Cheap starter, expensive add-ons, especially when they're DIRECTLY competing with Marvel Crisis Protocol right now. I dislike quite a lot of the MCP mechanics (don't get me started on super-jump) but their marketing is spot on.

The removal of Action Counters will speed up the game - but at the expense of its core mechanic / USP. We'll see. Ultimately, I wouldn't buy it, whereas I bought Suicide Squad box and would've bought DKR if I hadn't had a review copy.

Also thanks, and hi

I would not pay that much $$$ for that game.

Briancj wrote:I would not pay that much $$$ for that game.

That's the thing. I'm an ardent fanboy - and I agree 100%. I'm actually having a fair old argument about this just now with the other admins of the FB group; still, it's good from a community perspective that we're not all yes-men
Also it has nothing whatsover to them adding Militia to Bane to make a new Soldiers of Fortune faction - when I offloaded my Militia about a year ago, to focus on Bane

I think for true beginners the box is probably a good price. Plenty of terrain and figures. The problem is that for a new version it should be more geared to older players who probably have terrain and stuff and don’t need the priced raised to cover those items.

Theophony wrote:I think for true beginners the box is probably a good price. Plenty of terrain and figures. The problem is that for a new version it should be more geared to older players who probably have terrain and stuff and don’t need the priced raised to cover those items.

I quite agree. I'll see if I get a review copy.

Hey gang, just checking in. Wedding madness culminates today in the event itself, which frankly is an enormous relief. Tomorrow will bring its own reward in the form of brunch and cinema with the kids.

Meanwhile, here come the bloody goody two-shoes Gryffindor... And Tom Riddell, for good measure.

The Hermione sculpt is weird. It's like super dynamic and cool on the one hand, and NOTHING like Hermione on the other. Nearly through all the Potter stuff that's built and primed, just Fawkes and the Basilisk to go. Dreadball and Bane's Mercs next.



Picked up a couple of good black Friday deals, for Xmas presents - a Transformers starter for under a fiver posted, and the Dredd rulebook with promo Dredd/Death fig for 20. So not bad. Likely to pick up Superboy and Steel for myself, with Legion of Doom and Suicide Squad coming from KM (score!). I've discovered that you can get KM stuff at a decent price from Amazon prime, which is dangerous - and in my defence, my flgs stopped carrying KM years ago.

Anyway, more to come anon,
Graven

Nice work on those Graven! My hat is off to you on how well you paint those minis from the Harry Potter and the Batman game. I had no idea how small they are till I was at the local gaming store and took a look at them. I am used to those big chunky space marines from GW not sure I could paint them up half as well as you can. Looking forward to more!

Yorkright wrote: Nice work on those Graven! My hat is off to you on how well you paint those minis from the Harry Potter and the Batman game. I had no idea how small they are till I was at the local gaming store and took a look at them. I am used to those big chunky space marines from GW not sure I could paint them up half as well as you can. Looking forward to more!

You're more than kind. If you want really impressive KM stuff, go look at Paradigm's stuff.

Slowly bumbling through Dreadball stuff, struggling to figure out interesting, individualised paint schemes for MVPs. So meanwhile, let's paint something for a team I NEVER play...

Mee-kal Judwan. Surprisingly good sculpt/cast considering what an early model from the range he is.

And finished off Orcy

He's got a night stick behind his back. He'll probably get used as a Fan for pitch invasions etc. We don't really use the fan rules so it's quite nice to get some stuff painted up for it (I refuse to pay £20 for Beauty and the Mob, which is not bad for 3 cheerleaders and 4 fans, but I have loads of coaches/sponsors which I can just as easily use).

Little bit of a stock take, as to what's on the shelf, primed and ready:
DB: 2 Brokkr (WIP, but nearly there), 3 prone players, 4 MVPs
DC: Bird and 5 Mercs (WIP), Anniversary Batman, Spartan, Gordon and 3 SWAT - not counting Starfire (needs gs'd) or Copperhead (needs gs or brass trenchcoat for her current comic look).
HP: Fawkes (WIP), Basilisk
40k: Felthius and 3 Cohorts (WIP)
GL : Mystery Machine (WIP), Ghost Bike - not counting half a dozen primed but unarmed vehicles for when the whim takes me.

So 27 things on the desk just now. Not an overwhelming amount, really, but I'd like to clear much of it before I start on the next batch of DC. If I clear those over the next fortnight, that'll take me to 336 before xmas, so I reckon a full 365 is an attainable target before the year is out.

Aye, right

Graven

A Mystery Machine? Sounds awesome!

Catching up now, life stuff.

Dreadball Dwarves in nuclear green are looking sharp and different.

Orcy with stick behind his back needs a girlfriend named Tanya Harding , man a man I old .

Snagged a good deal on the black suit Superman yesterday myself. My LGS (downgraded from FLGS in the last few visits) will not touch KM, so I know your pain. Must stay away from Amazon....and forget you mentioned it .

Why, Theo? Whyyyyyyy?

Sleepwalker looks great, Graven. Same with the Hogwarts gang.

kestral wrote:A Mystery Machine? Sounds awesome!

Here you go then Kestral, here's where it's up to:

Long way to go yet.

Theophony wrote:Catching up now, life stuff.

Dreadball Dwarves in nuclear green are looking sharp and different.

Orcy with stick behind his back needs a girlfriend named Tanya Harding , man a man I old .

Snagged a good deal on the black suit Superman yesterday myself. My LGS (downgraded from FLGS in the last few visits) will not touch KM, so I know your pain. Must stay away from Amazon....and forget you mentioned it .

Yes, RL is a bugger. No worries.

The Darkmount Devastators are definitely my favourite Dreadball scheme I've done. Need to get their giant started planning to do the Metabots as Optimus Prime to mirror them, or at least their Captain.

As for Orcy, I agree, though now I wish his stick were a pipe

Black Suit-erman is very silly. He's... Ok in game but I'm fairly sure I'd always find someone else to spend those points on. What I'm desperate for is retro Lex. Can't get one any where, including KM.

youwashock wrote:Why, Theo? Whyyyyyyy?

Sleepwalker looks great, Graven. Same with the Hogwarts gang.

Many thanks indeed old chum.

Wife turned in early so took some time to paint.

Fawkes done:

Yup, happy with that.


And started the Basilisk:

Right now very green. Man, so much blending went on with this. Needs washed green-black to mute the tones then I'll start taking it up again with ochres and khaki.

Got Blitz, another MVP, done, along with a prone Zee:

Just a matter of plugging away.

And made a serious dent in Bird and the Mercs

Ink washes next for them. I *love* these figs, who doesn't want a set of generic modern mercenaries?! My only criticism is that Bird (bald guy at the front) bears no resemblance to his comic incarnations, and we don't have a Zombie or Trogg (Bane's other recurrent henchmen).

Further work on lord filthy arse and his buddies

Leathers and brass on them next. Then reds and plasma glows. They're coming together steadily though, quite happy just toddling along with them.

So 3 more done, and lots of progress. We can do this!!

Which is just as well, really, as I've still got lots unassembled as well, sitting in the drawer of Doom (mostly potter) Plus... Back to Gotham is coming! Yup, confirmed that I'm getting a review copy of the BMG 3rd ed box set. Which is a LOT of stuff...

Brave and the Bold has, Batman, Gordon, Bullock and Cops.
Joker has Joker, Harley, Thugs and Deadshot as a Free Agent.
Plus all the scenery in the world.
Don't know if I'll get giant promo display Bane-as-Bat. It's a hard life lol

On we go
graven

Mercs are already looking good, like the red and blue masks to give them a little personality. Basilisk should be epic when you're done!

Interested to hear your thoughts on 3rd, so far I'm really not convinced (the loss of the Raise The Plan phase might be a deal-breaker for me) but maybe you can convince me! And in either case, looking forward to seeing some of the set painted up. While kind of ridiculous as a gaming piece, just as a miniature I absolutely love that Gordon with the Bat-signal so I can't wait to see your take on him!

So much wonderful stuff! Congratulations on a decade of excellence! Wow, has it really been that long?

Fantastic work. Thanks for sharing it all with us.

Phoenix is looking hot , other bird ain’t looking bad (just mercenary).

Nice start on the Basilisk, not sure how many points it would be against Batman, but would be a cool crossover. Batman with his sidekick Harry Potter .

If the bases for the KM were regular size, how much cheaper do you think the starter set could have been?

Paradigm wrote:Mercs are already looking good, like the red and blue masks to give them a little personality. Basilisk should be epic when you're done!

Interested to hear your thoughts on 3rd, so far I'm really not convinced (the loss of the Raise The Plan phase might be a deal-breaker for me) but maybe you can convince me! And in either case, looking forward to seeing some of the set painted up. While kind of ridiculous as a gaming piece, just as a miniature I absolutely love that Gordon with the Bat-signal so I can't wait to see your take on him!

I am worried that it's going to take away a lot of the game's uniqueness. But, the game is chronically slow - I've played precious little second. As for the 40mm/60mm characters, I envisage tiny magnets. Or maybe just mount my regular Gordon on a 40mm base - let's not talk about all the other characters... I reckon I'll be using Batfleck a lot, he's already mistakenly on a 40mm

Gitsplitta wrote:So much wonderful stuff! Congratulations on a decade of excellence! Wow, has it really been that long?

Fantastic work. Thanks for sharing it all with us.

You're most kind, and a constant inspiration.

Theophony wrote:Phoenix is looking hot , other bird ain’t looking bad (just mercenary).

Nice start on the Basilisk, not sure how many points it would be against Batman, but would be a cool crossover. Batman with his sidekick Harry Potter .

If the bases for the KM were regular size, how much cheaper do you think the starter set could have been?

I'm not sure how I feel about them, tbh. I suspect I'll be doing a *lot* of magnetising. Sigh.

Did quite a lot of busy work. Lots of spot colours on Felthius et Al, started (and immediately disliked) Spartan, more rust on the mystery machine, ink wash on the two dwarves, some highlights on the Basilisk - nothing really worth showing, but lots of small, productive things that mean individiual figs are closer to completion.

I did, however, finish the Mercs:


Some of my absolute favourite figs KM have done. I'm looking forward to building the last guy (was missing from my DKR box) and converting up a couple more (to use as the ones that are Bat-Box exclusives, a Sniper and Grenade Launcher guy). Plus, whilst I'm not getting the bat-bane display promo (tragic ) I am getting a Tom Hardy bane promo, which I'm much more interested in, so that'll look cracking with them.

I also painted Hexan, a Dreadball MVP who can change to be any position:


Need to make some sort of base marker for her. At some point.

And started Grak (the big guy) and Drake (robo-dinosaur ridden by holographic kid).

I like the idea of a slightly malfunctioning hologram, hence the blue half.

And the 80th anniversary Batman

Which is going to be, y'know, terrifying to do properly. Brown bats, blue/grey bat scheme, not sure about smoke but may go crazy lime green.

The wife's found a cheap ultrasonic cleaner she quite fancies. My thoughts immediately went to the possibilities that that presents! RL itself is generally a bit calmer. November has been even more hellish than usual, but I feel like we're pushing through: no-one's dead yet.

Hey ho
Graven

How about just making the base swappable this on the dreadball MVP. Switch bases when it switches positions.

Hopefully Tom Hardy Band isn’t on a 800mm base . I think the big bases are pushing me further away from Batman game than drawing my attention. They just break immersion for me. I like them as centerpiece/displays and think they should be sold as such.

80th anniversary batman model looks amazing! I might have to find one just to paint it myself.

I like the look of the mercs - gritty and experienced. Hexan looks rad, too. Looking forward to seeing the rest painted up. You've made such tremendous progress since the beginnings of this blog, graven. Keep it up, you're an inspiration to us all.

Theophony wrote:How about just making the base swappable this on the dreadball MVP. Switch bases when it switches positions.

Hopefully Tom Hardy Band isn’t on a 800mm base . I think the big bases are pushing me further away from Batman game than drawing my attention. They just break immersion for me. I like them as centerpiece/displays and think they should be sold as such.

I could make her swappable if she wasn't already glued on :/ I'll think of something. It's not that hard to indicate somehow.

Warboss_Waaazag wrote:80th anniversary batman model looks amazing! I might have to find one just to paint it myself.

I like the look of the mercs - gritty and experienced. Hexan looks rad, too. Looking forward to seeing the rest painted up. You've made such tremendous progress since the beginnings of this blog, graven. Keep it up, you're an inspiration to us all.

You're very kind. Yeah the display figs are interesting. I'm getting the Dumbledore and Wonder Woman also, and it is my intention to have them primarily for display. Saves having to store them, apart from anything else.

Plodding along. Let's get SpoooOoooOky!

The Mystery Machine is ready to hunt down those pesky ghost bikers!

Still debating scratching off a T.


And a bunch of Dreadball

Grak, the mighty

My Illegal Brokkr

And some more prone players.

My dwarves fall over all the time, plus I don't have a prone Nameless or Reject marker so that's that sorted. There's a big new update for the game, or rather for the Xtreme version, which I'm not hugely fond of as a game variant but new stuff (teams, giants, MVPs) always good.
Another 7 done!

And those Death Guard are finally coming together:

Now for a wash. Not the clean kind!
Graven

Mystery Machine is a triumph. Batman is awe-inspiring. I look forward to seeing what you do with Dumbledore.

You are to productive! I can’t keep up, so just a short quip about how good it all looks. For the Batman, have you thought about making the smoke a blue to gray mix? He looks like a fantastic sculpt. Need more shots of the basilisk as you finish him. Love the mystery machine it really came out well well.

Mystery Machine looks ace, it's fun trying to imagine, what the gang looks like driving this postapocalyotic car

Love the bat-splosion!

And the mystery machine is ace!

youwashock wrote:Mystery Machine is a triumph. Batman is awe-inspiring. I look forward to seeing what you do with Dumbledore.

Lol Me too I imagine I'll use a lot of the same processes I used on Fawkes for his base.

Yorkright wrote: You are to productive! I can’t keep up, so just a short quip about how good it all looks. For the Batman, have you thought about making the smoke a blue to gray mix? He looks like a fantastic sculpt. Need more shots of the basilisk as you finish him. Love the mystery machine it really came out well well.

Cheers! I had thouht abotu it, but I worry that Blue/grey will get lost against Blue/grey bat.

Viterbi wrote:Mystery Machine looks ace, it's fun trying to imagine, what the gang looks like driving this postapocalyotic car

Cheers! There is an entire Scooby-Doo apocalypse comic, which has some cool ideas. Mad Cars also make a scooby gang in this scale - need to pick them up.

Gitsplitta wrote:Love the bat-splosion!

And the mystery machine is ace!

and

So work is hell, but life is a bit less crap and getting better. Still, it helps the productivity!
Finally finished Felthius and co:

Steady work made these a lot of fun

I also enjoyed the individual conversions.

They ended up quite colourful, which rather fits his lordship's demeanour.

Lots of goo.

Papa bless!


Got another Ghost Biker done:


Touched up the others while I was there:


Started on Devastator for the Darkmounts:

Just blocking in the colours right now.

And did a test paint for my Meta-bot (transformer) team:

The real question is, do I do the whole team like this?!

Hey ho ho ho, Satan, or possibly Santa, today with the kids,
Graven

Plaguefolks look ace, the more colourful look really suits them.

Yes to more Autobot Dreadball players!

Paradigm wrote:Plaguefolks look ace, the more colourful look really suits them.

Yes to more Autobot Dreadball players!

Thanks bud. I figured cheery lord Felthius needed a cheery take on the scheme.

I think the plan for the rest of the team is Weaponiser Cog's scheme - blue, with red and silver accents. Similar enough. Also, the fact that he can split into multiple different things really fits the idea of a team of bots.

Busy festive weekend. Not a painting weekend, but instead, a building one. The weather, though filthy, is uncommonly mild, so I'm going to get some more priming done.

More MVPs. I've substituted the heavy armoured guy's head with an Enforcer head from Deadzone - I don't have his actual head (cheap job lot) so sticking with the Mantic aesthetic. I want the Sphyr (hammerhead) guy done as I've got their team coming, and the possessed medbot is just a cool fig, if a bit of a nightmare to build.

Finished the Tumbler for Bane.

Damn, but that's going to need some filling. What a shoddy model. I'm hoping that because it's going to be in camo that will hide the lumps and bumps.

And more Potter

Barty Crouch Jr and death eaters, surprisingly well cast and easy to assemble

Voldemort and Nagini. Again, easy to build.

Barty Crouch Sr & Aurors, absolute nightmare by contrast.

Still got Weasley parents to do, but they're getting primed white so less of a priority. On a black stint. Going to try to build Zod and co (helms on bases I've decided) and maybe human Dreadball team for the same reason.

Feeling thin and stretched. Bit brittle.

Sigh

Graven.




Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also got Steel built


The Pathfinder, using Gitsplitta brand micro pinning


And started the Tumbler base




Automatically Appended Next Post:

Ooooooooooo pointy hats .

Building Is always a key part of the hobby, so when you can’t paint, build or if weather permits....prime.

Production is always good.

If this was a candy store, I'd feel like the kid who drooled too much! Looking good so far!

Theophony wrote:Ooooooooooo pointy hats .

Building Is always a key part of the hobby, so when you can’t paint, build or if weather permits....prime.

Production is always good.

Well, that's certainly the theory. There will need to be a wee bit of gap filling here and there though first. Steel was easy to build but couple of bits to tackle nonetheless.

shasolenzabi wrote:If this was a candy store, I'd feel like the kid who drooled too much! Looking good so far!

You're most kind! The current build queue also includes Man-Bat and Scarecrow, if I can get my act together.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
On a separate note, whilst tidying today I found most of both a metal Great Unclean One and Daemon Prince of Nurgle in a box. Good times! Papa must be pleased with my recent efforts

That base is awesome!

Gitsplitta wrote:That base is awesome!

Many thanks, I assume it makes sense in an american road marking way? Also, thanks again for your micro-pinning tutuorial. Wouldn't have got The Pathfinder assembled and stable without it.

I realise didn't include the picture of the Tumbler above:

So, so bad. I'm very close to wrecking this one and just using an Eaglemoss toy.

Woot, big Tom and the Death Eaters! Looking forward to those. The Tumbler base is great. Really effective. Dev looks good. The other DB bot is looking...prime.

You my man have a lot of irons in the fire. Potter stuff looks like a lot of fun, have you had time to play it yet?

Batmans main ride looks great, can you place a batman fig next to it for a sense of scale?

youwashock wrote:Woot, big Tom and the Death Eaters! Looking forward to those. The Tumbler base is great. Really effective. Dev looks good. The other DB bot is looking...prime.

You're kind all round. Yeah, Voldemort and the gang really bolster my forces of darkness.

Yorkright wrote: You my man have a lot of irons in the fire. Potter stuff looks like a lot of fun, have you had time to play it yet?

Batmans main ride looks great, can you place a batman fig next to it for a sense of scale?

Or, I have typical hobby ADHD and yes, of course, I'll even show the crew as a whole with their ride:

It's not bad, and it's within 1mm of the Eaglemoss one. Just needs a bit of a sand and it'll be good to get primed.

In other news, I have given up on trying to find the missing dino limb

Paper clip and green stuff ftw!

Other than that, much gap filling occured, whilst watching the first episode of the Mandalorian (so damn good, proper Japanese western. Busy work so all ready for priming. Yesterday was cold, and the freeze is going to start to hit later in the week, but today is mild (if wet'n'wild) so will try to get them started, if not done. Slightly irked for not getting Zod and co done too but mustn't dwell; legs are into base tabs at least, along with Mongul's.

Nibbling away at the pile of stuff, then!
Graven

Hi gang, quick update:

I've done something to my shoulder, and have pain radiating down my right arm through my hand. Which royally sucks, as it's slowing down any painting or building. Although lots is primed, I don't know how this will affect me; taking a few days off hobby to recover.

Still, this came in the post:

So that's nice Going to try to magnetise Dumbledore, acting as a test for the new BMG leaders (he, like them, has 2 base sizes). A bunch will go to a mate as a big Xmas bundle, as there's a lot there I have - Croc, Manta, Frost, Grodd, Lex and Sinestro (though I have taken a cheeky wee press mould of his lantern logo for... research purposes ) along with Solomon Grundy. As for the rest of the DC stuff, the new sculpts and characters are ALL MINE!!! No display Wonder Woman, but that's ok - because KM identified a quality control issue BEFORE dispatching them to retailers.

Planning xmas gaming with the kids, instead. DC, HP - which is fun, if a bit messy and should NEVER have been crowbarred into a tournament format - and going to try Hellboy (#spoileralert: that's next year's big painting project).

Hopefully get some stuff done once the pain has eased up. It's not a huge deal, really, but I'm acutely aware of where I was a couple of years ago.

Hey ho
Graven

Good luck with your shoulder, hope a little hobby pause will help!

Viterbi wrote:Good luck with your shoulder, hope a little hobby pause will help!

Me too :/ thanks. The only problem is that I end up with hobby guilt at that point

Sounds painful, hope you recover fast.

Having just painted that Dumbledore, he should be dead easy to magnetise. Slots right into the larger base. so a couple of magnets in the rocks attached to his feet should work fine. Hell of a mini though, you'll enjoy painting that!

Glad you mentioned that that WW has a quality issue, I nearly bought one the other week but I shall hold off for a while now.

There’s always hobby research that can be done. You know watching movies, reading rules buying things . Very low shoulder use in those.

Hope you heal up soon

Oof. Sorry to hear about the shoulder. You didn't break any Horcruxes lately, did you? They can be nasty things.

Loot pile is sweet. Serendipitous occurrence with that Sinestro.

Get Well Soon!

Paradigm wrote:Sounds painful, hope you recover fast.

Having just painted that Dumbledore, he should be dead easy to magnetise. Slots right into the larger base. so a couple of magnets in the rocks attached to his feet should work fine. Hell of a mini though, you'll enjoy painting that!

Glad you mentioned that that WW has a quality issue, I nearly bought one the other week but I shall hold off for a while now.

I would, though there are some ok ones out there in the wild, apparently. They aim to have them out with 3rd ed in a couple of days. Thanks for the tips on Double-door.

Theophony wrote:There’s always hobby research that can be done. You know watching movies, reading rules buying things . Very low shoulder use in those.

Hope you heal up soon

Yeah, who knows, might even play something

youwashock wrote:Oof. Sorry to hear about the shoulder. You didn't break any Horcruxes lately, did you? They can be nasty things.

Loot pile is sweet. Serendipitous occurrence with that Sinestro.

Mind you those potter minis are pretty brittle... Indeed, timing worked well.

Slinky wrote:Get Well Soon!

It's a bit pinchy, and I can feel the pain in my hand, but just getting on with it.

Turns out you can't keep a good nerd down. I got a bit too excited (blame Mandalorian) and went and made some yellow lanterns.

It turns out that, whilst the press mold of sinestro's logo worked, it was far too small for Hank. Good for Mongol though looks like I'm going for a Sinestro corps team. Hank got his sculpted, after all that. Obviously a bit more gs/filing and clean-up still to do. And, y'know, arms for Cyborg Supes; I was sculpting the ring on and decided to do it before attaching them. I do love his base, too. I have mixed feelings about the new giant scenic bases but these are proper snazzy. Aquamomoa has one too. Want to get Scarecrow done now, to get a proper Fear team done. Tempted to convert slutty Starfire into Lyssa Drak also. Hmm...

Also got Zod and Nam-Ek, his big goon, built:

Filing and filling to go, obviously. Feora has started also, but nothing worth picturing. How do we feel about Zod's helm tossed down onto his base?

RL is starting to feel slightly more sane; there is definitely light at the end of the tunnel - as long as it's not the =][= come to burn the heresy out of me.

Hey ho
Graven

You're a madman for sculpting the Corps symbol, but a craftsman for pulling it off, looks really good! Looking forward to seeing paint on all of this when the arm's back in shape!

Good looking yellow lantern guys.

I like Zod’s helmet on the ground. Real “come at me Bro.” Move showing he’s not afraid of getting punched by Superman.

Glad the arm isn’t holding you back.

Discarded helmet works. Looking forward to seeing the S-Corp colors on Mongul and Cy-Supes.

I kneel before Zod.

Take care of that arm buddy, hope your feeling better soon.

Paradigm wrote:You're a madman for sculpting the Corps symbol, but a craftsman for pulling it off, looks really good! Looking forward to seeing paint on all of this when the arm's back in shape!

Oh, I am certainly crazy.

Theophony wrote:Good looking yellow lantern guys.

I like Zod’s helmet on the ground. Real “come at me Bro.” Move showing he’s not afraid of getting punched by Superman.

Glad the arm isn’t holding you back.

Well, I'm just going for it. Mind you I managed to hit myself in the head with a car door today.

youwashock wrote:Discarded helmet works. Looking forward to seeing the S-Corp colors on Mongul and Cy-Supes.

Me too lol! Weather is around freezing just now. But I've got my standard pale primer (Kobra Platform grey) ordered anyway for Mongul et Al.

Briancj wrote:I kneel before Zod.

Quite right. It's worth rewatching the Reeve movies. Superman (78) is essentially a screwball comedy.

Yorkright wrote: Take care of that arm buddy, hope your feeling better soon.

Ibuprofen is amaaaaaazing.

More DC building

That Aquaman trident is idiotically spindly. I'm considering having a massive tentacle spiralling up it, but I'm open to other ideas.
Feora built, with the same helmet toss. And CySup built, though his chest triangle still needs a bit of filling. I could, legitimately, give him multiple lantern rings on his left hand but I like the pose of the right hand - plus that side of the model is otherwise greys and blacks rather than red.
And Devastator... Combine!

He's a big lad.

Need to get a team pic.

But you get the idea.

Not sure what the weekend will hold. Pretty quiet, as planned.

We'll see any suggestions or requests?

Graven

Try not to master smacking yourself in the head with a car door , I’m sure there’s a competitive sport in it somewhere (see slap fighting ), but at our age I don’t think we have it I need us.

Not disappointed at all by devastator .

 Theophony wrote:
Try not to master smacking yourself in the head with a car door , I’m sure there’s a competitive sport in it somewhere (see slap fighting ), but at our age I don’t think we have it I need us.

Not disappointed at all by devastator .

It was particularly special of me

Here's the team... Combined

They look rad, awesome color choices!

Great color choices Graven, they will really standout on the field. The poor fellas laying on the ground are in need of a medic.

That is too awesome for words.

You're a far braver man than I my friend... green stuff (shudder).

The green team looks fantastic. Always been fond of lime green and purple. I must have been a Landsknecht in a former life.

 Gitsplitta wrote:
You're a far braver man than I my friend... green stuff (shudder).

The green team looks fantastic. Always been fond of lime green and purple. I must have been a Landsknecht in a former life.

Or a fan of the comic book Lex Luthor

Great looking team, even the injured guys fit in.

Nice team, the green works really well with the purple accents.

Heretic Tom wrote:They look rad, awesome color choices!

Cheers buddy!

Yorkright wrote: Great color choices Graven, they will really standout on the field. The poor fellas laying on the ground are in need of a medic.

They're so doomed. Brokkr are almost impossible to knock down without serious injury. So they're humped.

youwashock wrote:That is too awesome for words.

You're most kind.

Gitsplitta wrote:You're a far braver man than I my friend... green stuff (shudder).

The green team looks fantastic. Always been fond of lime green and purple. I must have been a Landsknecht in a former life.

I would love to see how you tackle the Empire of the old world lol.

Theophony wrote:

 Gitsplitta wrote:
You're a far braver man than I my friend... green stuff (shudder).

The green team looks fantastic. Always been fond of lime green and purple. I must have been a Landsknecht in a former life.

Or a fan of the comic book Lex Luthor

Great looking team, even the injured guys fit in.

Aw, man, don't mention comic lex

Viterbi wrote:Nice team, the green works really well with the purple accents.

Steel done

Didn't photograph well. But I'm happy with it.

I used a metallic blue base coat, as that's how he was originally depicted in the comics. Enjoyed doing the sharp silver highlights and ultra red Cape.

But let's have some bad guys:

Osl fun. And a horcrux:

Ssssssssssssssssssssss...

Voldemort has also been started, as have Aurors, and Spartan is on the way. I've got a plan to make a comic Black Canary from Copperhead, because I'm a mug.

Been working on my Gaslands uk secret Santa, but that can wait for a pic
Hey ho
Graven

OSL looks good, I like it when it’s not over done. Scales on Nagini are very life like. Sounds like a whole lot more on the way!

Yeah, the OSL on the Death Eaters is a great touch. I especially like the wands. Nice patterning on Nagini.

Yorkright wrote: OSL looks good, I like it when it’s not over done. Scales on Nagini are very life like. Sounds like a whole lot more on the way!

Thanks!
I think it's very dependent on the style of painting. It suits the ultra highlighted GW store style, but I think it doesn't suit, for example naturalistic or even comic style. I've seen some ridiculous versions of red skull holding the tesseract. Blue skull...

youwashock wrote:Yeah, the OSL on the Death Eaters is a great touch. I especially like the wands. Nice patterning on Nagini.

Thanks. I really enjoyed painting her. I got the idea while looking at colours for the Basilisk (which is also coming along).

A touch of insomnia led to getting the Dark Lord done also:


His wand snapped when a brush came within 3ft of it. Hence the paperclip repair job. It's now been bent down to a slightly better angle.

Loved doing his cloth.

Talking of repairs, did Diggle also

Given what a terrible, messed up state the original fig was in, he's turned out ok. I think the old ammo objective was pretty inspired for his base

Did the Secret Santa car:

I've deliberately left it relatively unarmed

That way its new owner can upgrade it according to their own taste if they wish.

And started on Cryptozoan for Dreadball (or indeed Deadzone):

Mind-flayer, essentially. Not decided what colour to make its "head" yet. I actually quite like the grey. I might go for a light blue on the frilly bit, jellyfish style.

Brain a bit frazzled

Still, nearly xmas. Making a conscious effort to see my nerd-brothers&sisters, so looking forward to that.
23 figs to go for "1 a day for a year." Totally doable. No pressure...
Later
Graven.

I understand the insomnia, definitely one of those things that would get the brain ticking. Just had one of our cats walk across my face at 3:15 a.m., I must remind myself that I love them this early in the morning.

The Dark lord is looking fly for a bald guy . His snake is also looking very nice.

Cool truck,that’s a great Christmas gift.

You can do the 23, you just need what? Two/three dreadball teams.

Good work on the OSL, very subtle... I like it. The mind flayer thing is coming along wonderfully. I suggest making the body lime green...

Theophony wrote:I understand the insomnia, definitely one of those things that would get the brain ticking. Just had one of our cats walk across my face at 3:15 a.m., I must remind myself that I love them this early in the morning.

The Dark lord is looking fly for a bald guy . His snake is also looking very nice.

Cool truck,that’s a great Christmas gift.

You can do the 23, you just need what? Two/three dreadball teams.

Cheers! Yeah, I mean it's not like I don't have 3.5 unbuilt DB teams (female human, Bots, half a judwan team and another set of human males) just sitting there I've got lots that needs attention anyway, and the other primer has arrived. However, we're back to the low, low temperatures, so it's just going to be what's primed, for now.

Gitsplitta wrote:Good work on the OSL, very subtle... I like it. The mind flayer thing is coming along wonderfully. I suggest making the body lime green...

Cheers on the OSL. I thought you might say that. That was, believe it or not, the original plan, but I fancied a different scheme - much as I'm obsessed with VJ Livery Green.

Breathe in, Breathe out. Repeat.
Always helps with the stress.

Sorry to hear about your family loss.

Solar_lion wrote:Breathe in, Breathe out. Repeat.
Always helps with the stress.

Sorry to hear about your family loss.

Cheers bud.


Synecdoche, the Cryptozoan. Lovely model, quirky, characterful and creepy.

So that's another one done. Channelling lots of undersea critters.

Resolved my Momoa grievance:

Tentacles make everything better.

Made some progress on the Basilisk.

It's finally getting there. Using purple as the base colour for the water feels like a good choice.

And started blocking in Starfire.

Early days. I hate the 70s boob window.

Got a lovely, and most surprising, geeky gift from a pupil:

It's incredibly unusual, as a high school teacher, to get a gift from kids (especially at xmas) so this was all the more lovely.

Bunch of DCU stuff got gap filled last night whilst watching Mando #3, so all that's now in for priming as it's mild again. Started another MVP for Dreadball, had a brainwave - still on the Transformers theme...


Graven

All looking good, the Aquaman solution is surprisingly effective and while the model may not be the best, the colours on Starfire are coming along really nicely, very vibrant. Not sure if they're on your list any time soon as you're more on the DCU side than BMG these days, but the Starfire in the Titans box is a really nice model if you want a better dressed version.

Cheers. I am aware of the new Titans set, I have considered it. I suspect it's getting a DCU version really happy with Aquaman but I'm now fretting that the tentacle needs suckers

You certainly have a way with purple it always looks good. The water effect on the Basilisks base is impressive. I really like Starfires hair too.

All those tentacly things and Starfire? I've seen enough anime to know nothing good will come of this.

Good stuff, Graven. The Basilisk is really coming along. Hope regular sleep is in your future.

Starfire can't help but be reminded of Starlight and her costume change in The Boys which is excellent.

Yorkright wrote: You certainly have a way with purple it always looks good. The water effect on the Basilisks base is impressive. I really like Starfires hair too.

Thanks buddy. Long way to go on Kori. Very happy with the pva water so cheers.

youwashock wrote:All those tentacly things and Starfire? I've seen enough anime to know nothing good will come of this.

Good stuff, Graven. The Basilisk is really coming along. Hope regular sleep is in your future.

that is very true. had last full day of work before Xmas today, 2 half days ahead, can't be all bad.

Llamahead wrote:Starfire can't help but be reminded of Starlight and her costume change in The Boys which is excellent.

Lol so very true.

Meanwhile... The chamber of secrets is open!


And a scale shot with the dark lord

Happy with that.

Figured out where I'm going with my next robotic MVP:

Bumblebee and Grimlock too

Work awful. Really, utterly scunnered (to use a very accurate and descriptive Scots word for being beyond fed up). Still, nearly finished.
Onwards, Xmas!
Graven

Love it , Bumblebee and grimlock versus Devastator. Now where to go with Starscream

Nicely done Graven! They all look good, Voldys cloak really caught my eye.

Theophony wrote:Love it , Bumblebee and grimlock versus Devastator. Now where to go with Starscream

That's the plan The possessed med-bot is definitely getting a 'Con theme, probably insecticon colours as he's very spikey. There's a big tank of a guy who'll likely get done in military green (as Hound), and the Pathfinder will get painted as, well, the original Path finder (black, grey, red) which is actually the standard scheme for pathfinders in the Deadzone universe (I see what they did there). I might do the Sphyr MVP in starscream colours, as the test for them as a team. The Undersea Under-seekers, maybe?

Yorkright wrote: Nicely done Graven! They all look good, Voldys cloak really caught my eye.

Cheers mate! I certainly enjoyed it. Aurors next for HP. That just leaves Mr & Mrs Weasley and Gandalf to do
On a separate note, in the last two days, 2 lots of bats have snapped off my Multiverse Batman just by me looking at it

Display models still need to be functional.

Ahem.

Basilisk looks great..

All these Dreadball bots are making wonder why the heck there isn't a Transformers miniatures game of some sort, so much potential and presumably a huge untapped market there!

Paradigm wrote:Basilisk looks great..

All these Dreadball bots are making wonder why the heck there isn't a Transformers miniatures game of some sort, so much potential and presumably a huge untapped market there!

IP issues. Though I'm fairly sure WizKids have some Deep Cuts coming out. There is a not-formers game out there afaik.

Cranking out the MVPs

Wyn is a crazy bot who had the entire player database downloaded into his head.


Holo kid on a dinosaur. Of course.


Killer possessed medbot.

Insecticon themed. Stabby stabby.

Bit more on the Aurors

Going to go with lots of tweedy colours, like I did with Lupin but off a black base colour as they're dark and scary.

And finished Barty Crouch Jr.



Zod's crew are now primed, so they'll shoot up the paint queue because they'll be a quick turnaround AND I want to actually play with them Monday versus the kids. Might be a couple of other things in the works too

Term over. Now, to get my kids...

Hopefully Wyn’s voicebox wasn’t affected or he will have to use old radio signal clips to call plays .

I like the idea of the insecticon doctor, just like leeches were used to clean blood and maggots to clean out diseased flesh.

Strangely want to see BCJ converted to hold a sonic screwdriver instead of a wand.

Barty looks great, the coat especially.

I pity your kids when they face Zod, used him the other day and he's an absolute beast. Not tried the other Kryptonians yet, but Faora seems good on paper. Looking forward to seeing your take on the crew!

 youwashock wrote:
Strangely want to see BCJ converted to hold a sonic screwdriver instead of a wand.

I don't have either, sorry.

Theophony wrote:Hopefully Wyn’s voicebox wasn’t affected or he will have to use old radio signal clips to call plays .

I like the idea of the insecticon doctor, just like leeches were used to clean blood and maggots to clean out diseased flesh.

Absolutely. Tidy, isn't it?

youwashock wrote:Strangely want to see BCJ converted to hold a sonic screwdriver instead of a wand.

Should've gone blue with that wand shouldn't I? And maybe a pair of red converse...

Paradigm wrote:Barty looks great, the coat especially.

I pity your kids when they face Zod, used him the other day and he's an absolute beast. Not tried the other Kryptonians yet, but Faora seems good on paper. Looking forward to seeing your take on the crew!

Cheers! Well they're ready to bring the sword of Rao down:

Never realised till I was looking at Faora screen grabs that her armour is brown, but there you go.

Briancj wrote:

 youwashock wrote:
Strangely want to see BCJ converted to hold a sonic screwdriver instead of a wand.

I don't have either, sorry.

I find that unlikely lol

So, the WIPs
First, cybersupes is underway:

Red nearly done, others just started.

Hmm. Better call the cops:

Need some base scatter. Litter, mostly.

Looks like trouble. Better call the commissioner:

With new-style 40mm base, and will be getting urban scatter barrier for good measure so he doesn't look ridiculous.

Better call out the big guns:

Lots of tidying still to do. But at least I bit the bullet and am painting my resin one.

Bit further on Starfire

Don't worry about the eyes just now. Looking at balancing the base with an old Titan cannister (which is, you know, just funny)
Or at the back:

Thoughts?

I also started Nameless (or should that be Unaussprechlichen?) Spawn


I have the Sphyr team now thanks to erithromycin. I realise that I was going to do them to match my other shark (blood red armour) so that'll be fun
Good time catching up with erith generally, forcing myself to talk about RL with one my oldest friends. So the cud was chewed, and feel better for it.

Nearly in sight of the arbitrary goal!

Graven



Automatically Appended Next Post:
Wife took an early night when the 2 younger ones crashed out last night, and the older one was away overnight, so finished up some stuff:

Although I've just realised I've not done the eyes. Bother.

SWAT Team


And Gordon


Hank Henshaw, the Cyborg Superman:



And for Dreadball, The Reaver (a beaten-up old battlesuit)


4 to go for 365...

Finished Reaver, and the Nameless Spawn too


And Bane's Tumbler also:




Automatically Appended Next Post:
1 to go...

Better be a cool finish for the year. You’ve rocked out some awesome stuff lately. What will the magical one be?

Lol it's likely to be Starfire. She's nearly done, although she's practically unwrapped as it is.

Merry Xmas from Tamaran, then. Wow, that is a heck of a lot of productivity. Cyperman looks really good, as does the Kryptonian trio. The Tumbler looks much better after your TLC. Nameless is cool to see, and I am with you. I bet Briancj has either/or ready to go. Onward to the magic number.

Congrats on reaching your goal! And with such a consistent quality to boot, it's really impressive!

youwashock wrote:Merry Xmas from Tamaran, then. Wow, that is a heck of a lot of productivity. Cyperman looks really good, as does the Kryptonian trio. The Tumbler looks much better after your TLC. Nameless is cool to see, and I am with you. I bet Briancj has either/or ready to go. Onward to the magic number.

Thanks old son! Nearly there. At this rate if I'm really bored I might best last year

Viterbi wrote:Congrats on reaching your goal! And with such a consistent quality to boot, it's really impressive!

It's a way away from where I used to be, but I thank you nonetheless

So number 365: Starfire!

In the end, not awful.

Yes, that's a cannister of Titan

So having reached target, whilst there are a couple of things primed and ready, I've taken to getting other stuff built. Sphyr team (easy), judwan team (nightmare) Double Door (ongoing, but pita), Molly and Arthur Weasley (fine), Superboy (lovely) and Bane's axe Merc (horrid).

The wife and I invested in an ultra sonic cleaner - it was on offer, £20 - her for jewellery, me for minis works pretty well, got a lot stripped off Copperhead with just water and washing up liquid. So the conversion can begin in earnest

Meanwhile, there are still a few minis in the pipeline. Pics soon...

Graven




Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oh! I've also decided my Xmas gift to myself will be Dredd. I have so many gangers of various types from various systems that would be completely fine in the big meg. So just need rules and J-Men. My eldest is keen, and any game that catches the kid's eye is very exciting.

Awesome!

Starfire looks great in her space stripper attire .

Congrats on 365. You’ll really need to push next year as it’s a leap year, so bring on 366

Congrats on finishing 365 minis!

You've done a lot of good stuff since I last had a look, but I particularly like the water base on the Basilisk.

That's amazing to have finished 365 minis in one year Well done Graven

Gitsplitta wrote:Awesome!

Theophony wrote:Starfire looks great in her space stripper attire .

Congrats on 365. You’ll really need to push next year as it’s a leap year, so bring on 366

Well that would require me to have an even crappier year, so there's give and take there still, I've 3 more done since

aku-chan wrote:Congrats on finishing 365 minis!

You've done a lot of good stuff since I last had a look, but I particularly like the water base on the Basilisk.

Cheers squire! It's just the superglue-over-pva method, then a purple base with dark green and light blue over.

Syro_ wrote:That's amazing to have finished 365 minis in one year Well done Graven

Many thanks buddy!


Had a great day with my boys yesterday. Morning was given over to Transformers TCG, finally got my head around the 35th anniversary Autobot Blaster deck (though Soundwave is still MUCH better)

Fun game of ultimate in the afternoon. Despite #1's kalyshi getting an early lead, my Crystallans got their first victory of the season by a tactic of picking up both balls and slamming the opposition into submission.

Despite previous success, the now-infamous Yndij Striker #2 managed to repeatedly roll no higher than a 2 on any dice for scoring and has been fired by his coach (younger son)

Good times!

Oh, and got the Pathfinder done.

Meh. Crappy cast.

Much more exciting: Mongul, son of Mongul, in yellow lantern colours:

Very pleased how the great multi colour weirdo looks.

And another wee ghost bike, with some gs fire this time:


Nearly at Festivus!
Have a good one y'all,
Graven

Top stuff all round! Mongul and Starfire look great, and the speed of progress is epic as ever!

Paradigm wrote:Top stuff all round! Mongul and Starfire look great, and the speed of progress is epic as ever!

I paint fast. You paint good. That is the difference.

Quick update, decide to finish my very first Dreadball team with their giant and coaching assistant:

Backlog of conquests came in today, much to the boy's delight. He's been building sm bikes and everything.... I'm remarkably stoked for tomorrow. Ahead on food prep, using whisky to fight off a cold... what coyld possibly go wrong?

Well, that was Xmas. A lot of food was made, a lot of food was consumed. There was much unwrapping of gifts, and much delight amongst children. Huzzah, etc.
Also, my parents quite expectedly got me Aeronautica Imperialis! It's not a game I know beyond the fact that first ed was basically a reskin of Wings of Glory. Many pretty things within, but I really lack a frame of reference for what's "good" in game. As far as I can tell, to start with Thunderbolt Furies are just plain better than most other Imperial stuff. But anyone have any advice or experience to share? For now, I've ordered the Rynn book as that's the full rules.

Anyway, I suspect I'll pick up some other bits after I've picked up Dredd. I've ordered myself core box, Street Judges and the man himself, plus the citizens expansion. Merry Xmas to me, etc. I have many, many generic figs for gangers that are suitable, from street wars, BMG and even Walking Dead. I got a classic Hershey (GW mid 80s) for Xmas amongst other interesting bits and bobs from erithromycin, so that was pretty cool; the plan is to mount her on a hex base also for Dredd-ball.

Got my Secret Santa gift

Cruella De Ville's Coupe, suitably bloodied up. Got a few other rad motors in there too, unmodified, notably a Back to Future 2 Delorean which I'll use as a chopper.

Been relatively little p&m Geeking. Instead, I've been reorganizing boxes, ready for BMG 3rd. So now I have a BMG Metals ( \m/ ) box from 1st into 2nd, ideal for general supering (I got Super Mission Force for review purposes) and gangs for Gotham, Street Wars or 2000AD, and a BMG resin box for 3rd/the new stuff. Keeps me right lol... except I did find a whole bunch of Joker stuff I'd forgotten about never mind eh? Ha Ha Ha indeed...

Off to see metropolis today, should be good to catch up. Not planning on much painting really, just going to try to play some stuff over the new year with the kids.

Hey ho
Graven

So had a good time catching up with metropolis, played Mapominoes and generally chilling out. Got a proper look at his Dredd minis and am very impressed, so glad I went ahead with my order. My great fear that it will turn into card chasing seems to be for nought as you get them in the rulebook also. For current releases, at least. He also, very kindly, got me a promo Nimue the Blood Queen for Xmas - she's a standalone boss who can also turn up as an unexpected enemy on a whim. I love the idea of not being able to predict what's coming even once you've played through the game.

With the wife off out at cinema, had a game of Hellboy with the kids. Whilst they were initially a bit bamboozled by the rules they absolutely LOVED the game and generally found it more intuitive than most. We managed to win the first scenario with minimal damage, though there were a couple of hairy moments in there with a swarm of venomous frog monsters. They are completely smitten with it and we'll be taking it away for new year with us, along with Aeronautica, Pandemic Contagion, Hey that's my fish! and Dobble.


And a couple of WIPs for DC

An Amazon archer and Promomomoaman. They're not likely to get done this decade. But then that's the story of so much hobbying, isn't it?

Till then,
Graven


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Huh. Got a bit further along:

Not sure how I feel about her base.


Getting there

That base is awesome, DC stuff is looking great!

Water on her base is looking great.

Seeing them next to each other I just think Surf and Turf .

Glad you and the kids got some game time in .

Awesome as expected. Glad to hear your holidays were joyful. I can't believe you got that much painted, but the variety of stuff is stunning.

Someday we will have to get you to Adepticon.

Nice looking bases on the last 2 DC models, and the paint job is darn good too. I really enjoy reading that you and the kids play miniature games together. Since they seem to catch on to the rules pretty quick it may be something in their DNA. Wonder which side of the family they get that from....

Hello gang

Heretic Tom wrote:That base is awesome, DC stuff is looking great!

Cheers! Water on her and tentacle on him are mine.

Theophony wrote:Water on her base is looking great.

Seeing them next to each other I just think Surf and Turf .

Glad you and the kids got some game time in .

:Waaagh: Yeah, and more besides.

Solar_lion wrote:Awesome as expected. Glad to hear your holidays were joyful. I can't believe you got that much painted, but the variety of stuff is stunning.

Someday we will have to get you to Adepticon.

Thanks old son. Adepticon tends to fall on the wife's birthday so that's a bit of a no-go maybe in 20 years of so

Yorkright wrote: Nice looking bases on the last 2 DC models, and the paint job is darn good too. I really enjoy reading that you and the kids play miniature games together. Since they seem to catch on to the rules pretty quick it may be something in their DNA. Wonder which side of the family they get that from....

Many thanks old son. Yeah, the kids are great. Though the wife IS fiendishly good at Talisman...

A nice, chilled new year was had. Much was consumed, and little was done. A bit of assembly line work on Aeronautica Imperialis:

Great kits, if a bit fiddly. Tiny tiny. Modularity of the ork kits is especially impressive.

I did get a game of Hellboy with the kids to take us to the bells:

This was the Rasputin's Ghost scenario I'd played previously with metropolis and erithromycin where we got completely toasted. I didn't give the kids any hint of what was the best route and let them plan pretty much everything - and we beat it convincingly.

Basically, Rasputin would've got away with it if it hadn't been for those meddling kids. We got VERY lucky with the Boss Behaviour cards and the small fry remembered Big Red's deep pockets, which got us a well-timed grenade that cleared out hordes of minions.

And so, another year over. Whilst I'm not going to do a full recap, here's some of my favourites.
Animated Cat


Gaslands Crap Shack


Sangarr, Dreadball Giant


Jungle Ref


The Maltese Falconers

& Optimus Slime


Barricade


Dice Tower


Killer Croc


Magnetron


Bru-Cru


Hagrid


The Merciless


Bird&Mercs


Mystery Machine


Darkmount Devastators


And coming right up to date, the Mercs' Tumbler


So there we go! Plans for early 2020 include Hellboy, Dredd, Aeronautica and some cardboard box buildings. Let's see what ACTUALLY happens
Graven

I applauded your work from this year .

Some great models in there, but somehow I missed the Gaslands crap shack. I may have to loot that idea using my DUST tactics Quonset huts.

Stellar job you have done on all the Batverse and DCU models as well as the Harry Potter peeps.

Looking forward to another year of excellent reviews and seeing some Aeronautica Imperiallis work. Sort of interested in it and since I just played a fun beer and pretzels boat game I’m hoping your review gives me that same feeling and I might have a go at it.

A lot of nice stuff Graven. I had forgotten that some of those were from this year. Thanks for taking the time to make a recap.

Great years worth of hobbyIng you got done this year Graven. I am looking forward to 2020 and seeing what’s next on your painting table.

Theophony wrote:I applauded your work from this year .

Some great models in there, but somehow I missed the Gaslands crap shack. I may have to loot that idea using my DUST tactics Quonset huts.

Stellar job you have done on all the Batverse and DCU models as well as the Harry Potter peeps.

Looking forward to another year of excellent reviews and seeing some Aeronautica Imperiallis work. Sort of interested in it and since I just played a fun beer and pretzels boat game I’m hoping your review gives me that same feeling and I might have a go at it.

Cheers mate. Still think there needs to be a clapping Orkmoticon.
Crap shack was very easy to do. Prime brown, thin VJ flame orange, drybrush / sponge metals iirc.
Putting in Hagrid was a concession to the potter stuff, not a huge fan of it. As erithromycin pointed out, how much fun can painting school uniform be?
Aeronautica looks a lot of fun. It's broadly the same engine as Wings of War/Glory (hence the Wings of Vengeance subtitle), though it's evolved.

Syro_ wrote:A lot of nice stuff Graven. I had forgotten that some of those were from this year. Thanks for taking the time to make a recap.

Lol it's entirely self indulgent. Many thanks.

Yorkright wrote: Great years worth of hobbyIng you got done this year Graven. I am looking forward to 2020 and seeing what’s next on your painting table.

My painting table is an absolute bloody riot


Anyway, got the dakkajets built:

Really astonishingly good wee kit, the jets are totally modular in their combinations of nosecones, fuselages, tails and wings. Damn nice.

Further work on the DC figs.

I think I'm calling that done.

I do like a tentacle

Likewise


Well, I'm happy with the water, and the build, at least.

Got the Dredd starter figs on bases.

It's a bit rubbery, the material, but there's almost not mould lines and a tiny bit of flash on barrels and the top of heads, but that's all - cleanup was a dream. I don't like the bases especially, but I can live with it. Most likely I'll astrogranite them. I dislike bases on sprues almost always; however, Dredd has quartile zones so, weirdly, the sprue marks are useful.

And here's a scale shot

The metal Hershey is the old gw mid 80s one. As you can see she's on 2 bases!! The Senior judge is next to a new km axe thug - so very 35mm. The mantic judwan is tiny! Smurf for the benefit of those with 40/40 vision only

Ticking over, trying not think about work Monday,
Graven

Congrats on meeting your 365 in a year goal Graven! Im inspired and will be pledging to do something similar in 2020.

That's an awesome year graven!

Fango wrote:Congrats on meeting your 365 in a year goal Graven! Im inspired and will be pledging to do something similar in 2020.

Weirdly, the best advice I can give you is don't be stressed by it. If it motivated you, great. But you aren't beholden to it. And, many thanks.

Gitsplitta wrote:That's an awesome year graven!

Cheers old son. The real aim this year is to get my painting back to where it used to be.

Got a bit more work on the Dredd figs, from the various blisters


I am not sold on the rather rubbery Warlord plastic, it's a bit of nightmare. Doesn't superglue well, and taking off the mould lines is... a pain, because you cut deeper than expected. It's a bit like failcast. However, the models themselves are cracking, and you're paying about £3-£4 a fig. It's a toughie. By contrast, here is the resin lawmaster:

Absolutely lush. It's such a well-made thing it's ridiculous. Well, if it didn't have rubbery Warlord handlebars. Actually that's slightly unfair, it's still fantastic. Yes, you're paying more - same for Dredd on foot + mounted as a pack of other figs - but totally worth it. Absolutely getting Anderson, who's next in the named resin packs... Let's be honest. I'll be getting others too.

Oh, and yes that is my first issue of 2000AD, signed by John Wagner
Graven

If I'm going to meet those big paint targets, it's a good idea to have some manageable "chunks" to paint also. Last year a good fallback was always a dreadball team. So this month, it's cass of finish one I've already started:

My Judwan, the Area 51 raiders. And remember kids always thin your paints. I'm so used to using Model Air that I initially didn't notice I was using regular VJ turquoise shading, and pink accents, to follow. The rest of the team are sitting in a box, need touch up too - won't count for the tally but keeps me happy
I still have sphyr, metabots, void sirens and second sets of Rejects (mixed aliens) and trontek (male human) to do, so one team a month is at least half a dozen extra models a month without really breaking a sweat, right? yeah, right It's not like they're assembled or primed (well, apart from the Sphyr). Still, that's a team a month, theoretically, till the end of summer.

The shameful shelf, meanwhile, glares at me:

It's very Dredd-full at present L-R that's some Gaslands, Dredd, BMG, Dreadball, more Dredd, and a bit of HP. Plus some terrain (which is my son's) and nurglings lurking on the shelf above.

It's good to have a project, right?

Had an impressive GW customer service experience, one of the two starter set maruaders had a blobby lascannon:

Sent an email to them, just for the wee part, but said it wasn't a big deal and could just be battle damage. Got a very funny reply about the mistreatment of tech servitors and getting sent a fresh box of two! I don't actually particularly want two more bombers, but the gesture is impressively awesome. Who knows, at some point I might actually get a game...
Back at work. It's currently less awful. Here's hoping
Hey ho, on we go,
Graven

Planning, what sort of fun is that .

I commend your ability to not only be organized, but to have a hobby plan.

I almost forgot how many teams they made for dreadball , your set for a while.

Theophony wrote:Planning, what sort of fun is that .

I commend your ability to not only be organized, but to have a hobby plan.

I almost forgot how many teams they made for dreadball , your set for a while.

Just because I have a plan, doesn't mean I'll stick to it

31 teams. I don't have all of them - there are some I genuinely don't like in terms of models (Mutants, Metabots) or play style (Hobgoblins, Asterians, Martians - although I do like the Martian figs). Plus there's the various semi-official community teams, which I'm likewise unfussed by. Well, except maybe the Succubi, but I offloaded all my KoW stuff ages ago.

Whilst the young lad was at Ukelele, I made good on promise to the older to get some hobby time. Of course, his little sister wanted to join in:


Drybrushing and Sponge weathering, fun for 3 year olds and 12 year olds alike

I got some more stuff built - the Trontek team (there's 11 there, though I only need 5 more to fill out spaces on the roster, so the rest will likely get passed on to another... victim), Katana and some DC Villains (still to finish Deathstroke and Cheetah), whilst the boy also customised a couple of bikers for his Raven Guard. Good times

Once these are built, that just leaves Scarecrow to build for DCU and Man-Bat and Joker's gang for BMG (well, and the promo Bombshell Harley, but that's a display fig so I'm not rushing her). Pleased that my DCU stuff is nearly all there, it's still the best super game BUT I now have a copy of Super Mission Force so my opinion my change

And later, with a bit of help from catching up on the radio, finished off the Judwan:

Changed up the thigh panels to pink, so did that on the rest of the team also -

Fun team, very fast, very slippery, fall over in a stiff breeze. They were THE unstoppable team in 1st ed but have been toned down - or at least, most other teams rebalanced. Still nasty, so probably get #2 to try them.
So 8 minis done. 10 so far, not shabby.

It's just occured to me that THIS year it's a 366 challenge I'm fairly sure I have that many unpainted models in my house, though, somehow Apart from what's there on the shelf, there's the Aeronautica and allllllllllll the Hellboy stuff. Sighhhhhhhhhhh.

Anon,
Graven

Hmm. Something odd happening with auto append.

Wow Graven, that's an amazing amount of Dreadball you've finished and will be cranking out. Also I think your shelf of shame has a lot of nice looking models on it. Is that the entire shelf of shame? It doesn't seem like many models.
Also that's really great that your kids want to share hobby time with you. I hope mine will when I have some of my own.

Syro_ wrote:Wow Graven, that's an amazing amount of Dreadball you've finished and will be cranking out. Also I think your shelf of shame has a lot of nice looking models on it. Is that the entire shelf of shame? It doesn't seem like many models.
Also that's really great that your kids want to share hobby time with you. I hope mine will when I have some of my own.

Thanks bud. The 5 Trontek I need to finish the team to max strength will be next, though I'm likely to let the boy(s) do them also as they did the last batch (simple metals). Both the big 1 and little miss really enjoyed it, so I think they're going to tackle some gaslands vehicles, but I'm fairly sure there's a bit more scenery coming up in the final issues of conquest so it's worth getting that probably for them (and general scatter for 40k/dredd) to do also.

I envy the fact you have paint helpers. I’m sure it took lots of training and time to cultivate them.

Looking forwards to more gaslands. I really need to grab the 2.0 rules and get my son playing it. He just decided to give his matchbox cars to his cousin, we may have to loot them first .

Excellent plan. Easily converted and a great way in
Meanwhile, started the big fella:

Nice work you are already doing in this short time. And good seeing your kids join in, I may try out my eldest (5) for some WarCry terrain.

Excited to see the Dredd minis get painted, so that I don't need to buy them

I can just imagine the number of times people will say “I am the law!” During a game .

Viterbi wrote:Nice work you are already doing in this short time. And good seeing your kids join in, I may try out my eldest (5) for some WarCry terrain.

Excited to see the Dredd minis get painted, so that I don't need to buy them

Terrain is the way to train them well, I actually started the oldest on Ork vehicles when he was 3, but the principles are similar lol.

The Dredd minis themselves are top notch, but the rubbery material and bases continue to annoy me. One of my mates is experimenting with 3D printed bases they can slot into.

I'm going to try to score some of the current/ upcoming issues of Conquest, just for the kids to muck about with the imperial terrain nonsense.

Theophony wrote:I can just imagine the number of times people will say “I am the law!” During a game .

It gets slightly ridiculous

Was both crushingly tired Saturday and working - not usual for a teacher. Driving home had a brainwave today which perfectly explained why I could do multi coloured Ork flyers. Now, I have no clue why anyone? It's not lantern corps colours, though that also occured.

Meanwhile, I did the rest of the blocking on Dredd:

Discovered some tiny mould points on knees (easy fix) and a nasty join between left fist and waist (unpleasant slice). And, my god, I hate their bases: I'm tempted to break out the milliput and just level them off. If it seems like I'm posting more WIPs, it's because I'm going a daily Instagram post. Check out insta.graven ! All the cool kids are!

Didn't get anything else done. Still, a good night was had with our oldest grown-up friends (ie non-geek, non-uni) - surgeons can really bloody drink.

Tomorrow (I suppose today) is a nothing day. Hopefully will tackle something else.

Till then
Graven

Good start on Dredd.

Doctors really know how to drink. I’ve seen the aftermath of Doctor parties first hand.

So many wonderful toys!

Theophony wrote:Good start on Dredd.

Doctors really know how to drink. I’ve seen the aftermath of Doctor parties first hand.

LOL I bet you have. Dredd's coming along, I was a bit wary of the brighter colour palette I'm using but I think it's working.

shasolenzabi wrote:So many wonderful toys!

TOO many wonderful toys

A pretty chill weekend, not a huge amount done between work and alcohol
I made some further progress on the big Drokker. Then I got fed up and cut his base off.

And here's a whole new batch of them, using the MEdge sprue 2

The Street judge at the back won't get removed from his handy step, just some nice rubble. I don't mind *some* of them being on the awful ovals - there's half a dozen where the ovals are just too well superglued onto the bases to be extracted - I'll just milliput/rubble/scatter terrain around them.

I did, however, get the chance to play D&D with my sons. We'd bought my eldest the Stranger Things D&D intro set for his birthday, much to his delight. I'd heard mixed reviews about it, but thought we'd give it a go, with him running and me and #2 playing.
The Good: Good mix of pre-gen characters, we took the half-Orc Ranger and Wood Elf Cleric. Intro rulebook covers all the basic mechanics. Good maps and range of encounters in the adventure. The Demogorgon minis are fun, too. My son enjoyed running it and they're both keen to play again.
The Bad: Lots of passing of rulebook back and forth, especially to cover spells. Given, though, that the character sheets are double-sided, a quick ref on the back would have made much more sense than the random guff that's there. More generally, there's not actually much guidance on *running* the game (as in Now Read This To the Players), though I could help with that. Also, the whole process of "finding" the final boss is needlessly convoluted, to the point that even the 9 year old pointed out, "Why couldn't we just go to there in the first place?"
The Ugly: the final encounter (#spoileralert) is to all intents unwinnable. Whilst there are a couple of encounters that feel dangerous - swarm of skeletons, bad news for 3rd level characters, and the Demogorgon is properly terrifiying - we *just* survived through judicious use of items and healing. However, when you have a final creature that, with a single average roll on its first attack will kill 2 PCs outright, and no sense of how to plan or outwit it, you're doomed. Yes, the big boss should be terrifying, but having now looked back over the adventure there's really no way to realistically beat it - at least as introductory game for new players. My younger son was really upset that this had ended this way and the older was frustrated that the scenario just fizzled out.

Still, it was broadly successful, because he then used the last of his Xmas money to buy the PHB off amazon I just think it's a shame that they couldn't make a better product overall that capitalised on the TV show.

Oldest also got some more work on the Caprica Centurions done:

4 stage metal drybrushes (gunmetal, oily steel, chainmail, mithril). They're already looking better than the ones he did last year, so it'll be interesting to see how the team look all together.

Hey ho, this week will mostly involve a lot of rebasing,
Graven

The shading on Dredd really helps tone him down and bring him into the darker universe I see him come from.

I saw the stranger things starter box, but figured it was just typical cash grab. Never thought they would put too much into it.

The metal guys are looking good.

Nice use of the Medge terrain sprue .

 Theophony wrote:
The shading on Dredd really helps tone him down and bring him into the darker universe I see him come from.

I saw the stranger things starter box, but figured it was just typical cash grab. Never thought they would put too much into it.

The metal guys are looking good.

Nice use of the Medge terrain sprue .

Cheers on all fronts mate. Boy did a good job on them.

It is a bit of grab but it did the job. Some decent-ish content.

The MEdge stuff is so handy!

Did a little proof of concept, because as you may remember I LOATHE flight stands.



Yeah, reckon that works. More MEdge bits to make a rooftop to cover it I think.

It’s not a bird, it’s not a plane, who the is that? (Seriously, what figure is that?)

Love how Dredd is turning out.

Geez I don’t check in for a bit and you have all these minis started or finished! Congrats on getting 365 finished for the year.
Thanks for the gift too, khorne will be pleased. :-)

 Theophony wrote:
It’s not a bird, it’s not a plane, who the is that? (Seriously, what figure is that?)

It is the Homer Blint, Bat Glider mini from the Denizens of Mega City One pack.

Graven..Da Machine. Your output is remarkable.

Bat glider. An essential and efficient way to traverse Gotham!

Theophony wrote:It’s not a bird, it’s not a plane, who the is that? (Seriously, what figure is that?)

CptJake wrote:
It is the Homer Blint, Bat Glider mini from the Denizens of Mega City One pack.

Yeah lol, I know. Homer Blint, he's a justice dept informant who discovers his wife is a serial killer, and ends up helping her.

youwashock wrote:Love how Dredd is turning out.

Cheers mate. More to come

Yorkright wrote: Geez I don’t check in for a bit and you have all these minis started or finished! Congrats on getting 365 finished for the year.
Thanks for the gift too, khorne will be pleased. :-)

You're most and more than welcome The 365 paint challenge is this metamorphosing into something slighty different, which is a 365 hobby challenge (needs a #hashtag); I'm also documenting this on instagram.

Solar_lion wrote:Graven..Da Machine. Your output is remarkable.

Bat glider. An essential and efficient way to traverse Gotham!

Very wise indeed!

Today's efforts:

So I've attached the clip to the base, threaded through the mesh and attached accordingly. This will probably get a panel or fan or something also, to give a sense of a rooftop, and then get primed up with the others.

Speaking of which...

He's getting there. Might add some colour to the base, bit of yellow or something.

And the rest of this batch

All going to look much better, I reckon.

Tomorrow's job: highlight Dredd, get him on his base

Picked up the Ground Assets for Aeronautica today. Yay, more stuff
Graven

Great to see the MEdge terrain sprues getting some love, Graven. I'm intrigued by the Judge Dredd stuff...I've pledged not to buy any games or minis (or Kickstarters) in 2020....so I'm restraining myself for now....same goes for Aeronautica...I love the models, the theme, and the scale (I've got the Forgeworld game and a few resin squadrons...Tau, Imperial..still unpainted!)...but I spent a ton of money on Titanicus and still have only just 'mostly' built a few of the models...haven't played a game yet!

I'm trying to focus on stuff I've got and had sitting untouched for far too long...so I'll enjoy these minis vicariously through your plog for now!

Fango wrote:Great to see the MEdge terrain sprues getting some love, Graven. I'm intrigued by the Judge Dredd stuff...I've pledged not to buy any games or minis (or Kickstarters) in 2020....so I'm restraining myself for now....same goes for Aeronautica...I love the models, the theme, and the scale (I've got the Forgeworld game and a few resin squadrons...Tau, Imperial..still unpainted!)...but I spent a ton of money on Titanicus and still have only just 'mostly' built a few of the models...haven't played a game yet!

I'm trying to focus on stuff I've got and had sitting untouched for far too long...so I'll enjoy these minis vicariously through your plog for now!

Cheers! I need to get at least one MEdge-y building done also for the Big Meg. Aeronautica needs the boost of some more releases. Whilst I like it in its own right, it's not at all clear that you either need the Rynn's world book or card decks pretty much from the get-go to have all the units. I got the book, but actually the cards would've been more useful.

Well, I think I'm ready to call big Joe done:

Many highlights, plus done a bit of yellow for contrast on the base.

Trying to catch a comic aesthetic, the big brash colours of the Megazine and the McMahon era. Although I started mid 80s, it wasn't till I was about 12 I regularly bought 2000AD, and remember the Megazine starting. I read a LOT of Dredd in the 90s...

Blint has jumped up the paint queue, as I'm quite taken with the experiment.

Chest filled and base primed.

But I've got some nurglings on the go also, using various left-over nurglings to make a fresh set of 3:

Hanging off the base front-right is a test fig, he's not attached or anything. The solitary nurgling primed green is from Mortarion, he's going on the middle base (drunken nurgling sports party, or something).

A little a day,
Graven

Drunken nurgling sports party .

Big Joe is looking great with the highlights.

Theophony wrote:Drunken nurgling sports party .

Big Joe is looking great with the highlights.

Nurglings ALWAYS remind me of football fans (and I use that in the American sense of the sport). I might give them a couple of gs pennants / scarves also. I'm not a sports fan of any type, but I might try to get some sort of reference in there. They are really just for fun.

Thanks about JD. I've made a rod for my own back doing the striped buckle though

Right, where was I?
Well, last night I had an hour and half to myself, and was feeling pretty wound up, so decided to chill with a good beer (I've switched my monthly Brewdog shareholder beer subscription to be more focused, so last night it was Dogma, a Heather Honey ale, 7.2%, - exceedingly impressed)

First, got my set of Nurglings done:

They were a lot of fun, in the end.

Oops, shoddy pic. Blame the beer

And the big job, Homer Blint with his bat-glider:

And a better view of the secret flight stand

And of the glider wings

So much wet blending.

Talking of tests, I had an absolute blast with this lovely lady:

East Meg agent (or spy for any game, really). Fantastic fig, really love it.

Very, very thin black wash over the pale grey primer, with thinned tan and white for highlights.

But these were also a test for this:

And especially this

Yes, I have started this beast of a model. The grey of the suit is next, so now I may start taking it back with thinned black and build up to sharper highlights. I'm liking the very soft dark grey-blue, and how well it highlights (eg along the front line of the boots). Also I think that brown was a good choice for the bats.

Weekend is likely to be proper crazy - celebrating my brother-in-law's birthday tomorrow, and my mum's Sunday - but we'll see, might try to get started on the Street Gang for JD. Expect lots of lime green and/or the other Denizens of MC1 - Oola Blint, Homer's killer missus, Footsie and Karl Raider (vigilante ex-judge).
I was thinking I was taking things slow, but I've actually averaged a model a day already this year how did I do that? I'm not trying to necessarily maintain this pace, but it's quite encouraging.
I figured out what the multi-coloured Ork Air Waagh plan was: The Rain-Boom Waagh-riors, each painted a different colour and then heavily weathered. Sounds like a job for the kids

Later,
Graven

Great start on the Batman centerpiece. Brown bats are very appropriate and will help focus the sight on the main man.

Skittles Orks taste the Rain-Boom!

Theophony wrote:Great start on the Batman centerpiece. Brown bats are very appropriate and will help focus the sight on the main man.

Skittles Orks taste the Rain-Boom!

Cheers and dat's da idea!

Had a bit of time so got a bit more done on multibats:

Just building up the greys atm,

The Angel of Death (nope, not a 40k thing) done: Oola, Homer's wife

Tricky model to photograph. Damn hat.

Fun with comic book highlights

Meet the Blints!


A totally self-serving reminder for y'all to check out insta.graven over on Instagram, where I'm attempting to document #365challenge. Shameless plug :thumbup:

Best
graven

Wonderful to look in and rummage through so much great work. Been lurking, thought I better show signs of life.

Sheesh I don’t check in and again you have painted more than I do in a month. It’s all looking good Grave especially that Batman.

That Bat. Magnificent.

Nice work! Those Dredd minis look a lot better than the store pictures implied, I may have to get myself a set of Dark Judges.

Camkierhi wrote:Wonderful to look in and rummage through so much great work. Been lurking, thought I better show signs of life.

Most kind old chum. Lurk away, though lovely to hear from you.

Yorkright wrote: Sheesh I don’t check in and again you have painted more than I do in a month. It’s all looking good Grave especially that Batman.

Quiet you. You're plugging away at lovely stuff there is to be no hobby guilt here

youwashock wrote:That Bat. Magnificent.

You're exceedingly generous. See what you think of the finished article below.

aku-chan wrote:Nice work! Those Dredd minis look a lot better than the store pictures implied, I may have to get myself a set of Dark Judges.

They are remarkably good sculpts, and for all the material is a bit weird it holds the detail well. They've not yet done a full set of Dark Judges, just original appearance of Death in the Arch-villains.

A lot more on multibats. Belt, knee hole filled. Got bored, decided to try to finish him off.

More on the Cape.

Yeah, calling it done.

Started on the blocking in on the other judges.

Yes, the ancient Hershey fig looks TINY!
Working on the last 2 denizens, a rogue judge and futsie:

And blocking in the gangers too.

I reckon Keith Richards is my gang boss

Bases for Aeronautica into prime; planes next!
Onwards, if not upwards,
Graven

Bat and the bats came out stunningly. Liking the highlights. Very dynamic pose requires a stunning paint job. Very nice.

Love your work on Cthulhu Batman! All that hard work you've spent improving your painting, experimenting and pushing yourself is really paying off. I agree with you on the spy figure... really good sculpt and you've done a fantastic job with it! Keep it going Graven! You set the standard!

Batman came out great. Like the lighter tones on him instead of all the dark gritty.

Oh the humanity! That Judge on the bike went into reverse and plowed over the other judges. Who will protect Mega City now?

Ancient Heresy Judge will be fine once he get Primarisarized like the other Judges.

Yeah, Hershey looks like she is about one base too short. I have had an old Dredd for years, with no idea what to do with him because he is so tiny. Maybe paint him up one day and let him hang out with the 25 mm western guys so he doesn't get scared. I also have the Foundry version, which is a lot more modern in size.

Batman rules! Great work!

Solar_lion wrote:Bat and the bats came out stunningly. Liking the highlights. Very dynamic pose requires a stunning paint job. Very nice.

Many thanks indeed.

Gitsplitta wrote:Love your work on Cthulhu Batman! All that hard work you've spent improving your painting, experimenting and pushing yourself is really paying off. I agree with you on the spy figure... really good sculpt and you've done a fantastic job with it! Keep it going Graven! You set the standard!

I feel like I'm trying to get back to the standard I was a couple of years ago. Long journey, not there yet. However, I appreciate the kind words. Yeah, the spy is a cracker.

Theophony wrote:Batman came out great. Like the lighter tones on him instead of all the dark gritty.

Oh the humanity! That Judge on the bike went into reverse and plowed over the other judges. Who will protect Mega City now?

Ancient Heresy Judge will be fine once he get Primarisarized like the other Judges.

thanks re the bat. There will no doubt be a Hershey resculpt or two, given she's Chief Judge now.

youwashock wrote:Yeah, Hershey looks like she is about one base too short. I have had an old Dredd for years, with no idea what to do with him because he is so tiny. Maybe paint him up one day and let him hang out with the 25 mm western guys so he doesn't get scared. I also have the Foundry version, which is a lot more modern in size.

Batman rules! Great work!

I'm sure I could find a home for a Dredd or two thanks again.

Many thanks indeed one and all. Starting to get the quality, as well as quantity, back.

What have I been up to? Well not an enormous amount, really. Work is super busy. Marking papers, trying not to get fired... the usual.

So. Prepping up Aeronautica Imperialis, all the planes are built and primed light grey for both sides, and the bases black.

I've done the orky bits to go over the AI logo (single toof for dakkajets, two teef for fighter bommaz and, eventually, grot bommaz). I've also built the ground assets. I'm so sick of tiny tiny rockets...

I'm going to have to paint something now

Anon
Graven

Centerpiece batman turned out sweet.

How does the Aeronautica play? I have a copy of the old rules somewhere. Never got around to trying it.

It's a nice wee game. The old version is a straight reskin of Wings of War/Glory. This has a different, though similar, maneuver mechanic. Good fun, proper beer and pretzels, still some balance issues to work out though.

Oh, I did not realize that. The classic WWI fighter plane game for me was always Dawn Patrol/Fight in The Skies. It's been so long though I have completely forgotten how to play it.

These look cool, but will have to be one of those things I live vicariously through you with as I really don’t need another game/scale/money sink .

Though with GW doing airbrush tutorials now .......STOP IT

Red Harvest wrote:Oh, I did not realize that. The classic WWI fighter plane game for me was always Dawn Patrol/Fight in The Skies. It's been so long though I have completely forgotten how to play it.

One thing that genuinely surprises me is that the very name - Wings of Vengeance - freely acknowledges its debt. Very un-GW. It's rather ironic considering that it's far less of a reskin that v1.

Theophony wrote:These look cool, but will have to be one of those things I live vicariously through you with as I really don’t need another game/scale/money sink .

Though with GW doing airbrush tutorials now .......STOP IT

I never really got to grips with airbrushing. It's a question of time for cleanup more than anything else in my case. Painting is in snatched minutes, mostly. I find that using airbrush paint is a good compromise lol.

The planned colour scheme, incidentally, is predominantly Luftwaffe Green for the Imperial stuff (and SW grey for the undercarriage, as I come full circle to my old IG, the Cydonian 9th. Good times

Really interesting plane designs. Excited to see what you do with them!

Good work on all the things.

Planes, trains and batmobile's. Never ending cochophany of joy.

Gitsplitta wrote:Really interesting plane designs. Excited to see what you do with them!

Once I figured out that it doesn't matter what loadouts you stick on things (oddly, for Gw, it's not really WYSIWYG), I was able to bring it all together. They're brilliant, modular kits, particularly the orks.

Dr H wrote:Good work on all the things.

Cheers! The things are fun!

Solar_lion wrote:Planes, trains and batmobile's. Never ending cochophany of joy.

Certainly feels like a ceaseless task sometimes!!

So, the bases at least are pretty much done. Imperial:

And Ork:

A bit of oily streaking and light dusting required. Can I legitimately count these as a couple of painted models

And for 2000 AD, the starter set Street Gang.

Few detail pics



And the boss:

He can't get no satisfaction, though seems to be alright for Stookie.


Plus did Karl Raider, vigilante ex-judge:



And the Futsie, finishing off Denizens


So that's a few more to round off January leaves the Street Judges to finish off

Generally busy times, hence the delay in dakka update, but feeling not bad in the head, so can't really complain.

Later,
Graven

A very busy family party last night - enormous food, hurrah, terrifying "dancing", hurroo. Not home till half 1, and despite being designated nerd, utterly wrecked today. So in a break from JD, for a bit of variety, onto the planes!

Main colour blocked in on the Imperials - VJ GC Cayman Green, with some Krieg Khaki streaks and highlights.

And Da Rain-Boom Waaagh-Air-Yobz

Taste da rain-boom!

Took 2 most of the way to the finish line, to play about with the core colours.

First, Da Hulk:

After a lot of humming and hawing, decided against rust on these guys. Air Boyz are basically speed freaks after all. Oily, mucky, sure - but not rusty.

Big bright skittles-coloured bombs and rokkits. I wonder if they're still a bit flat though and could use more highlights...

And the first Thunderbolt:

No running lights yet. Port, starboard, nose, at the very least.

I think the missiles need to be more distinct. Possibly paler, actually, perhaps with some red accents.

No engine glow as yet on anything - undecided - but I used some VJ gunmetal blue on the engines themselves and that has been successful, I think.

So no decals, crucially. I think, probably, that's the right decision - I am never crazy about them - but open to suggestions.

C&C more than welcome
Graven

Those are bright I don't know about decals but definitely feel the Imperials would have ID markings something equivalent to the D-Day invasion stripes.

Love the rainbow

Teal=hulk
Blue=Captain America
Yellow=Thor’s golden locks
Red=Iron Man
orange=Black Widow? Orangish red hair?

I’d go either darker on the bombs or do the circle around the tips of the bombs in the red and white.

Just picked up a copy of Gaslands: Refueled.

Making quick progress there graven!

Lovely work on that big Batman cape and that rather flamboyant street gang.

No decals, but you could still paint wing and tail fin stripes and whatnot on them, the thunderbolts. Give a proper WWII fighter plane look.

My 2 cents is paint the missiles white and the warheads red. That should make them stand out. The Ork bombs look fine perhaps a bit of highlighting like you said.

Yorkright wrote:
My 2 cents is paint the missiles white and the warheads red. That should make them stand out. The Ork bombs look fine perhaps a bit of highlighting like you said.

I would say a nice olive green with yellow fins/noses. Kind of similar to the ol' Hellfire paint scheme.

Llamahead wrote:Those are bright I don't know about decals but definitely feel the Imperials would have ID markings something equivalent to the D-Day invasion stripes.

That's not a bad call. I had considered a classic "sand-and-spinach" combo for them, but some neat striping might be the way.

Theophony wrote:Love the rainbow

Teal=hulk
Blue=Captain America
Yellow=Thor’s golden locks
Red=Iron Man
orange=Black Widow? Orangish red hair?

I’d go either darker on the bombs or do the circle around the tips of the bombs in the red and white.

Just picked up a copy of Gaslands: Refueled.

Good lad and I see you've even changed your blog title :>E Surely you mean Kaptin Orkmerika, Fork, Ion Ork and... um... Black Widork?! I may use BOTH the suggestions, actually, with dark missiles and red/white tips, to look distinctive under the wings.

Gitsplitta wrote:Making quick progress there graven!

Sorta. I don't post EVERYTHING here

aku-chan wrote:Lovely work on that big Batman cape and that rather flamboyant street gang.

Many thanks. The aim with the gang was to use the same broad palette across them all but varied enough to make them look all different

Red Harvest wrote:No decals, but you could still paint wing and tail fin stripes and whatnot on them, the thunderbolts. Give a proper WWII fighter plane look.

Yeah I'm starting to think about channelling a P-47 look to them - my use of cayman green was already a nod to WW2 US colours so may go with a single black and white band across both the wings and tail.

Yorkright wrote: My 2 cents is paint the missiles white and the warheads red. That should make them stand out. The Ork bombs look fine perhaps a bit of highlighting like you said.

I may well go along those lines. I might do black/white/red though, as I'm worried that white against the grey underside will get lost.

CptJake wrote:

Yorkright wrote:
My 2 cents is paint the missiles white and the warheads red. That should make them stand out. The Ork bombs look fine perhaps a bit of highlighting like you said.

I would say a nice olive green with yellow fins/noses. Kind of similar to the ol' Hellfire paint scheme.

Ooh, see I like that too. I think I'll use that for my Ground assets, the more "camo" look for those missile batteries would be logical.

Anyhoo, bits and bobs progress.

Finally getting to grips with my Teraton Giant - Dozer, the ten-tonne Teraton terror! and Stato, the tiny Teraton coaching assistant. The Xtreme Sponsor (a spare) is also in their colours but on a base for use as a civilian in Judge Dredd - Block Committee president or something.

And with a bit of time to spare, Thunderbolt got stripes!


Yeah, pretty happy with that. I may leave the tailfin, but I've deliberately left space for some sort of insignia also should I wish.
Later
Graven

Great job on the plane. Invasion stripe , didn’t know that’s what they were called. The dark bombs look great too. When I worked in home improvement retail a contractor taught me to always sell black wrought iron railings for decks because they were less visible when standing back. The black on the underside of the wings will disappear from a distance so won’t be noticeable unless closer up.

Ahhh... the stripes on the wings are perfect!

Invasion stripes painted on for D-Day and thereafter. There were so many types of allied planes in the ETO, we Allies needed a quick way to ID the planes. You didn't see them on the big bombers, for obvious reasons. How does one mistake a B-17 superfortress or an Avro Lancaster for anything else?
*IIRC.

Stripes look good. You could fit in something on the fuselage too?

This,"A Fighter Pilot's Story" is a very compelling story of a P-47 pilot, by the pilot himself. I cannot recommend it enough. If you get a chance to watch it, then do so. You will not regret it.

Every time I have a look in your blog I ponder, if you sleep or eat at all Nice output and really dig the Aeronautica models. Would love to paint some of them, but must resist and be content with watching you have a go at them.

Theophony wrote:Great job on the plane. Invasion stripe , didn’t know that’s what they were called. The dark bombs look great too. When I worked in home improvement retail a contractor taught me to always sell black wrought iron railings for decks because they were less visible when standing back. The black on the underside of the wings will disappear from a distance so won’t be noticeable unless closer up.

Thanks. I think they look pretty snazzy.

Gitsplitta wrote:Ahhh... the stripes on the wings are perfect!

Red Harvest wrote:Invasion stripes painted on for D-Day and thereafter. There were so many types of allied planes in the ETO, we Allies needed a quick way to ID the planes. You didn't see them on the big bombers, for obvious reasons. How does one mistake a B-17 superfortress or an Avro Lancaster for anything else?
*IIRC.

Stripes look good. You could fit in something on the fuselage too?

This,"A Fighter Pilot's Story" is a very compelling story of a P-47 pilot, by the pilot himself. I cannot recommend it enough. If you get a chance to watch it, then do so. You will not regret it.

Spoiler:

Here's a taste.
Hell of an anecdote. The greatest generation.

Awesome clip. Interesting to spot the black/yellow striping - coloured striping was primarily a German thing, I thought. Interesting point about *not* striping the bombers, I hadn't considered that. I'll add it to the tail, regardless. Not sure about fuselage troublemaker

Viterbi wrote:Every time I have a look in your blog I ponder, if you sleep or eat at all Nice output and really dig the Aeronautica models. Would love to paint some of them, but must resist and be content with watching you have a go at them.

That's easy, I don't sleep - I have 3 kids!

So, I'm pretty happy with the plane test. Meanwhile, happy to call the Teratons done.

Dozer's a beauty, no wonder all the boys love her. Poor old Stato hasn't got a chance.

Look at the shell on that. Female of the species is more deadly than the male, and all that.

And the Sponsor.

I'm sure he's a perfectly legitimate businessman. Good for 2000AD and that too.

3 more done marks 31 in January so that's good for the 365 challenge. It wasn't necessarily ever my intention to actively do a model-a-day, but it certainly doesn't hurt

Weather's due to get warmer again, so can do some more priming. Till then, I can get more planes done, right?
Graven

A mini update: the invasion of the stripes continues!

According to my aviation-loving dad, Bombers did indeed have invasion stripes during D-Day etc, and a little bit of googling proved him right - even on Marauders so the stripy madness has spread. I've also added a couple of stripes to the tail end of the fuselage, as I liked the idea (unfortunately!)

Pretty stoked for the next set, Taros Air War



Mostly given that the Valk was one of the first big kits I did on my return, and the Avenger one of the first serious heavyweight kitbashes. Tau? Well, I'm not actually fussed about a third faction except I think that being huge and shooty will suit #2 boy. But April is the wife's 40th, so I'll be flat broke regardless

Love Dozer. Her milkshake will bring all the boys to the yard.

AI planes are looking great! The bases worked out well too.

youwashock wrote:Love Dozer. Her milkshake will bring all the boys to the yard.

Damn right, she's better than yours

Slinky wrote:AI planes are looking great! The bases worked out well too.

Cheers buddy! Hope you like what you see below!

I've got an afternoon with my boys tomorrow, we're debating Hellboy, Dreadball, or Aeronautica. If we go for DB Dozer is going to come and lay the smackdown (to be fair, the last thing my Crystallans need is another heavy-hitting guard, but hey ho )
But if we're going to play Aeronautica we need planes right? RIGHT?!?!?

The Cydonian 9th, the Knights of Cydonia, my PDF from a decade ago, ride again!

Fury on the left (extra fin strip too), regular on the right.

Marauders, air to ground left, air to air right.

Belly!

And - Da Rain-boom!




That's another 9 ticked off for January, gives me a bit of wiggle room at other points in the year.
Let's get the February ball rolling!

Graven

I'm just glad it is a leap year so we get to see an extra day's worth of your fantastic painting.

You know, graven, you often down play your work, but you are both consistent and prolific. That big display batman came out great and you've painted more models in the past few weeks than I have finished painting in my entire time in the hobby. It's inspiring, really.

 Warboss_Waaazag wrote:
You know, graven, you often down play your work, but you are both consistent and prolific. That big display batman came out great and you've painted more models in the past few weeks than I have finished painting in my entire time in the hobby. It's inspiring, really.

What he said.....in spades.

Those jets are fantastic, the bases turned out great as well.

The Orks....well, they are a colorful lot , and they all explode in the same fiery colors

Ditto as above. You consistently put out well painted figs at a speed I can only envy.

Just a saw the preview of the next release for AI. It might get me. I always loved the look of the Valk and Vulture. It could become my starting point depending on the cost and my funds at the time.

CptJake wrote:I'm just glad it is a leap year so we get to see an extra day's worth of your fantastic painting.

thanks I guess

Warboss_Waaazag wrote:You know, graven, you often down play your work, but you are both consistent and prolific. That big display batman came out great and you've painted more models in the past few weeks than I have finished painting in my entire time in the hobby. It's inspiring, really.

You're more than kind. I just see flaws, and the frustration born of knowing I used to be better before my hand started playing up.

Theophony wrote:
What he said.....in spades.

Those jets are fantastic, the bases turned out great as well.

The Orks....well, they are a colorful lot , and they all explode in the same fiery colors

Thanks sunshine. I know the orks won't be to everyone's taste. I had fun painting them and am actively looking forward to lime green and purple grot bombers

Yorkright wrote: Ditto as above. You consistently put out well painted figs at a speed I can only envy.

Quantity is not a match for quality. You're pretty damn awesome too. And mostly for me this is just therapy. That, and your continuing adulation

Theophony wrote:Just a saw the preview of the next release for AI. It might get me. I always loved the look of the Valk and Vulture. It could become my starting point depending on the cost and my funds at the time.

Well, the first set was £50 RRP so that's what, $80 or so? It still irks me that you either need the campaign book or the cards for the full rules (or, y'know, the internet). Still a bargain though.


Got a great game of Hellboy with the kids

We got a heck of fright when the Blood Queen, Nimuë, appeared mind you. This was definitely the closest game we've had yet. Also, it's really noticeable how good her cast is.

Stunning resin. Mind you their plastic is also superb nowadays. I was having a really close look at the Hellboy figs and the lack of mold lines is impressive. They're definitely the big 2020 project.

Meanwhile, back to the Big Meg!
The Street Judges are pretty much all blocked in now.

Bit more on the Lawmaster.

Lovely model. The difference resin makes :/

As for finished stuff, more for Aeronautica.

Woo! Tokens! Double-sided, silver on one, gold the other. That counts as "1" model in my book.

And bunkers.

Imperial, very dull one gold eagle, silver details, other reversed; together, counts as 1 model likewise.

Detail on Da Snuggly Dukkling. More work but still only count as 1 for the tally.

Need to get the other assets - the artillery - primed, but it's very chilly and I've been reorganising the garage also.

Till then,
Graven

Hope you didn’t take my post the wrong way, I love the different colored Ork planes. They just all turn out the same color of scrap when they blow up .

The Lawmaster really looks like the 30k marine bikes. Wonder who was the inspiration.

£50 is $100 with GW conversion rates unfortunately. Hopefully those will change now that your not European.

Theophony wrote:Hope you didn’t take my post the wrong way, I love the different colored Ork planes. They just all turn out the same color of scrap when they blow up .

The Lawmaster really looks like the 30k marine bikes. Wonder who was the inspiration.

£50 is $100 with GW conversion rates unfortunately. Hopefully those will change now that your not European.

Lol not at all I was most amused

Wow. Sucky conversion rate. And don't talk to me about my compatriots idiocy. There's a reason I've spent nearly a quarter of a century living 450 miles from anyone I ever knew.

That style of Lawmaster dates from the early 80s, Rogue Reader bikes were not dissimilar but I think you have your answer there

 inmygravenimage wrote:
...According to my aviation-loving dad, Bombers did indeed have invasion stripes during D-Day etc, and a little bit of googling proved him right - even on Marauders

Hmm, all these years. I guess I shouldn't believe everything I read. Poking around, it seems that the 2 engine bombers had them, but not all of the 4 engine bombers. Honestly, I was always more interested in the smaller planes than the big bombers. There is no cooler plane than P-51 Mustang. IMO. I suspect that you Brits may feel differently, given the coolness of the Spitfire.

Ah well, rule of cool here. The stripes look cool, so full speed ahead.

ETA: The orc planes, like skittles in the sky I do like the idea. I suppose only the big boss would have a red one. Can't have any of the others going faster, eh?

Lovely planes!

Don't put out so many lovely planes. My finger is already itching because of the new Tau vs. Imperials set and because GW isn't able to release the plastic seraphim I have put money by for

Beautiful work here as always. Love the Dredd work, and the planes are exceptional.

Does the surface matter when playing Aeronautica? I see bunkers etc. I am sorry no idea about it, I have seen it and want it, but can't get it, so have not paid it any attention. I guess the ground comes in with objectives for the bombers etc.

@ Red, Your P51 Mustang does take a lot of beating, such a beautiful plane. Took a Brit engine to make it a top of the line monster though! For me the de Havilland Mosquito is the most brilliant and beautiful plane ever. Twice the power, so fast and amazingly versatile. Modern planes are just not in the same league as the old guard. There are greats amongst them, but not the beauty. The same goes for so much of life and the world around us. Cars most notably, nothing has a touch on the E-Type or an Alfa Spyder from the 60's. The one that gets me the most is architecture, why oh why, when we could build St. Paul's Cathedral 300 years ago, do we mass produce rabbit hutches for housing and giant glass boxes for offices!

Red Harvest wrote: There is no cooler plane than P-51 Mustang. IMO. I suspect that you Brits may feel differently, given the coolness of the Spitfire.

The orc planes, like skittles in the sky I do like the idea. I suppose only the big boss would have a red one. Can't have any of the others going faster, eh?

Yes, well, Hurricanes are even cooler the red one definitely is da boss. Or da Baron

Gitsplitta wrote:Lovely planes!

Pew pew pew!

Viterbi wrote:Don't put out so many lovely planes. My finger is already itching because of the new Tau vs. Imperials set and because GW isn't able to release the plastic seraphim I have put money by for

I'm not that fussed about the Tau, truly. They slightly post-date me, as I lost track in the late 90s, plus I'm not really a fan of the mecha aesthetic. But loving the other Imperial stuff, I quite agree.

Camkierhi wrote:Beautiful work here as always. Love the Dredd work, and the planes are exceptional.

Does the surface matter when playing Aeronautica? I see bunkers etc. I am sorry no idea about it, I have seen it and want it, but can't get it, so have not paid it any attention. I guess the ground comes in with objectives for the bombers etc.

Thanks boss!
Surface: Sort of. It's played on a Hex grid (mighty empires size - which I've seen used for this). Terrain is considered to be at level 0 - if a plane is ever at level 0, it crashes. There are some scenarios with scenic elements, including iirc one where there are Ork bubble chukkas pottering about at ground level (if only I had kept my epic stuff! Alas )
There are no official rules for terrain that stretches to level 1, but I have seen an amazing store table (a GW in Germany iirc) where they had an Adeptus Titanicus table with a plastic hex layer about a foot above the surface. Epic, literally. There's nothing to stop you having a hive spire, for instance, as an obstacle of a given height, though.

Right, back to the Big Meg. Time to clean up this block!


Yeah, happy with Big Joe.


Street Judges


Street Judges with heavy weapons


Rookie and Senior


The judges' back(s)


And classic GW Hershey from 1985

Scale shot with a new one

And a mantic fig, as she'll be used as a Dreadball ref. Or rather, Dreddball.

Got a promo bane from one of the other KM admins today. Decided he needed a suitably impressive base:

That's the top of a Tumbler, that is.

So what's next? Let's do a quick stock check:

DREADBALL
Human team - based colours blocked.
Sphyr team - primed
Metabots - unbuilt

BMG
Miller joker, dolls, Borgon the Cursed, Rastaclown; ivy plants; bane axe Merc - all primed

Bane! Holiday Joker, Bombshell Harley, Gaggy the clown, Man-Bat - unbuilt

DC
Villains: Scarecrow (unbuilt), Cheetah, Deathstroke, Deadshot, Joker, Bronze Tiger ; Heroes: Katana (all built but unprimed), Superboy - primed

HP
Mr & Mrs Weasley - primed
Dumbledore - part assembled. Can't be arsed magnetising.

GASLANDS
7 cars - primed (plus many in boxes)

HELLBOY
ALL the stuff there's about 150 figs there, still in the box. Plus I found another pile of resin skulls today, which will get added into the scenics.

WARLORD
Dredd Vs Death display fig - unbuilt.

GW
Plague Flies - in bits. Somewhere. If the kids start to get into AoS ( Mortal Realms) then I'll worry about having enough daemons to give them a fight. I have a classic metal GUO somewhere too.

That all ought to keep me busy lol. I started building Scarecrow, and then had a strop over the fact that he's on a 60mm base, which is idiotic on MANY levels but mostly because it looks really stupid.

Still, 9 more under the belt and we're only a couple of days into the short month (albeit the limited edition longer than normal version of February).

The Gravenator rumbles on...

Hmmm that list should take you all of 2 weeks to finish. ;-D
They all look good Graven, I am most impessed with the dashboard on the bike, that is a very cool effect.

They are the LAW. Loving those Judges.

Shouldn't that Lawmaster be modeled plummeting straight down?!

Yorkright wrote: Hmmm that list should take you all of 2 weeks to finish. ;-D
They all look good Graven, I am most impressed with the dashboard on the bike, that is a very cool effect.

I wish lol. TBH some things are further along than others. I give the illusion of being a faster painted than I am by (a) not posting all my WIPs) and (b) painting a bit of a colour on something when I've got it out anyway for something else. It's a slow burn And cheers, I'm rather happy with its dash too

youwashock wrote:They are the LAW. Loving those Judges.

Many thanks!

Gitsplitta wrote:Shouldn't that Lawmaster be modeled plummeting straight down?!

Shocking! to the iso-cubes with, drokker!

Case in point: I didn't get much done today BUT I made sure that I did something, even if it was tiny.

Red and blue colour spots on the last of the Caprica Centurions. Some white for the wom-wom eyes and centre of the blues, silver highlights, base tidy and trim and they'll be done. Shouldn't take long at all, but I wouldn't normally show them at this stage. Still - it's all about the preservation of one's sanity.

Hey ho,
Graven

Quiet few days, marking pretty crazy plus daughter's 4th birthday , so cake and mermaid related insanity has descended.
Just touching base.

In an alarming development, my son has been building Chainrasps and raiding my bits box

Pesky Kids

And the Caprica Centurions are done!

Wom-wom

Not sure what's to come.
Keep an eye out
Graven

I remember when you were surprised to have another little one coming . I’m getting old.

Cool beans that your son is starting his own projects, even if your scrounged loot takes the hit.

I can’t keep an eye out, it would be messy , but if I was a cool robot like your guys then I could.

Good to see the kid’s taking up dads hobbies. 4 year old birthdays are great! Lots of cake and other sugary treats an hour of running around then a quick nap for the adults. ;-).
Centurions look good the blue seems to be glowing.

Mortal Realms is rather good value isn't it. I'm surprising various venues by picking up 3-5 copies of issues I'm interested in....

 inmygravenimage wrote:
In an alarming development, my son has been building Chainrasps and raiding my bits box

Pesky Kids

I'll be watching this closely!

Theophony wrote:I remember when you were surprised to have another little one coming . I’m getting old.

Cool beans that your son is starting his own projects, even if your scrounged loot takes the hit.

I can’t keep an eye out, it would be messy , but if I was a cool robot like your guys then I could.

She wasn't an accident, she was a surprise...
I honestly don't mind if he's scrounging. It's good that he's thinking about how to create a unified look for the bases. I particularly like the way he's using chaos vehicle spikes for graveyard railings.
They are very NAUGHTY robots lol. They're actually an interesting team because they're completely average. Basically, humans are a bit crap not terrible, and you can do interesting things with them - they're really cheap, so they fill their rosters with bonus dice, cards and star players.

Yorkright wrote: Good to see the kid’s taking up dad's hobbies. 4 year old birthdays are great! Lots of cake and other sugary treats an hour of running around then a quick nap for the adults. ;-).
Centurions look good the blue seems to be glowing.

Very pleased you like them! Here's the whole gang:

Fifty wrote:
I'll be watching this closely!

I'll be watching my damn bits box for more theft.

Llamahead wrote:Mortal Realms is rather good value isn't it. I'm surprising various venues by picking up 3-5 copies of issues I'm interested in....

It's impressive. The boy seems intrigued, and it's certainly affordable.

I'm in a bit of a terrain mood, mostly because of the genius of insaniak I've been meaning to customise the excellent Gamemat.eu prepainted scenery a bit, primarily for Dredd as it has a very Peach Trees vibe. Hopefully there's more to come.

I've also been tidying bits - I have 3 plague flies in various states, and a metal great unclean one in its old chunky glory. So these may get resurrected for his sticky glory.

Meanwhile, I've started Superboy, 90s version.


Not a fan of this incarnation of the character, but it's quite a fun fig and it's good for me to get on with odds and sods. I'll try to get him done over the long weekend.

On we go
Graven

Storm over the UK, so we're all hunkered down in the house. Been catching up on Mando and started Locke & Key. Meanwhile, more done.
90s superboy:



Frank Miller DKR Joker:

Trying a much more "comic" look here.

Creep-a$$ dolls

All together now!

More plants for Ivy.

Looking forward to having Monday/Tuesday off; still hoping for a game of something with the boys. Other than that, not much more to tell

Best
Graven

Why you get two days off?

Superteen looks good, too much space jell in his hair.

Wife and I started watching Locke and Key, of course she continues when I’m not home and then I’m missing parts . Never read the comics, but it looks good to me so far.

Love that Joker! And the creepy tots. Enjoy the time off!

Love that joker too! That white suit is really good Graven and your kids are creepy. Jokers kids, not yours Enjoy your days off and have some fun.

Chiming in with the same, Joker looks like he just stepped out of the comic, nice job! And liking the plants for Ivy.

Theophony wrote:Why you get two days off?

Superteen looks good, too much space jell in his hair.

Wife and I started watching Locke and Key, of course she continues when I’m not home and then I’m missing parts . Never read the comics, but it looks good to me so far.

It's the long weekend up here. Down south they get a full week off, the swine. Our summer holiday is shorter than in the US, but we get more occasional holidays. May is amazing, we get 2 long weekends.
I'm not a fan of Superteen. Just a terrible look. He's good in game though.
I've read all of Locke and Key, even got a review on an issue at one point.

youwashock wrote:Love that Joker! And the creepy tots. Enjoy the time off!

They were a lot of fun to do in the end. The stylised Joker look with the heavy black lining is something I'm considering for Hellboy figs.

Yorkright wrote: Love that joker too! That white suit is really good Graven and your kids are creepy. Jokers kids, not yours Enjoy your days off and have some fun.

Well, a wee jaunt to the cinema I think is in order. And my kids are plenty creepy

Viterbi wrote:Chiming in with the same, Joker looks like he just stepped out of the comic, nice job! And liking the plants for Ivy.

Cheers chaps!

Speaking of Joker figs, finally got those two new thugs done.

Borgon the Cursed

Better shot of his ink

And Jacket

And Rastaclown

I haven't followed his game look, but rather referenced the British kids' TV show Rastamouse. Obviously

I'm trying to really get through the backlog, as you can tell
I've got Mr& Mrs Weasley started along with the axe thug for Bane, that's the aim for the next couple of days, along with trying to get the ground assets done for Aeronautica. Irritatingly, reading the Aeronautica scenarios you need
Crashed bomber
Damaged bomber
3 ground targets
Mek Yard (bubble chukkas and traktor beams)

I'm actually most annoyed by the ground targets - because you get two per faction in the assets set. Now I can probably bash something together, but still. Poor form, GW, poor form. Need to get some classic epic Ork style bits, and figure out how to do the wrecked bomber. Hmmmmmmmm. Hmmmmmmmm...

I also got the Legion primed. Deathstroke's swords are ridiculously thin - one fell off literally from the pressure of being primed I am unimpressed, and quite certain that the other sword will also go the way of all flesh likewise. I can't see Cheetah's tail being much better tbh. Still if that goes a well-twisted paperclip should do the trick eh? As for the swords, may have to go the brass route. Bah.
Lots to think about...
Graven

Long Weekend was good.
Hellboy with the kids: we've gone up to Hard.

Much closer; Johann was out by the end, Red and Blue just about standing. Still really enjoying it still but starting to need more variety in the minions.Don't want the game getting samey... Definitely time to move on to the expansions; Hellboy in Mexico is first up. The kids also want more 3D scenics; helps them visualise what goes on. In particular, I suspect some MDF doors are in order. We're pretty au fait with the tokens but the inferno tokens in the base set are pretty naff, so they may get replaced.

My older boy started his Nighthaunts.

2:1 nikhail:thinner medium, followed by a drybrush of white. He's really pleased so far. Next is nightshade on the weapons and armour, and then he's going to black the bases and drybrush them with astrogranite.

Did an experiment involving my least favourite hobby thing in the world: magnetising, we hates it I had the tiny Neodynium magnets (bought for Batman and Catwoman, but anyway) but they just weren't cutting it and I'm not taking chances with km resin...

So yeah, screw it, he's getting superglued in place. I mean it's a big apocalyptic fireball, you might as well enjoy it.

Talking of giant bases, I finished up my promo Bane's wrecked Tumbler.

Am debating whether to add a wheel also.

I've also made an imperial target, I mean, asset, for Aeronautica out of an old lightsaber pen lid.

Working on ideas for an equivalent for orks. I'm thinking using some sort of zap thing mounted on some turret-y bits. I found a crane part too, which along with a squig catcher on that might work for the Mek yard.

And then there's the actual official ground assets:

I reckon they'll be done soon enough.

We had a few games of Aeronautica also:

It's a cracking wee game. But almost more importantly, it's fast - setup, play and tidy in around 20 mins. The convenience of a self-contained miniature game with decent rules and gameplay is a huge advantage, in my book. The game is not perfect: you really want the reference card decks straight out the gate, for instance.

Back to the chalkface tomorrow.
In some ways I feel like I could've got more done, but still, productive.
Hey ho
Graven

Awesome stuff. Your all over the place. Hard to concentrate. Clowns are great. Like they weren't already creepy.

You painted, converted, and played. It’s more than I get to do most weekends. Enjoy the time you have.

Have you looked at Mantic terrain crates? I know they have a set of plastic doors that should fit your Hellboy table nicely.

Solar_lion wrote:Awesome stuff. Your all over the place. Hard to concentrate. Clowns are great. Like they weren't already creepy.

Yes, I have the attention span of a flea

Theophony wrote:You painted, converted, and played. It’s more than I get to do most weekends. Enjoy the time you have.

Have you looked at Mantic terrain crates? I know they have a set of plastic doors that should fit your Hellboy table nicely.

Thanks bud. Yeah, they're not cheap though. The Wizard's Study is decent but I'm pretty good for furniture from when I was upgrading my Mansions of Madness.

Got my ground assets and landing zones done. 6 for both sides plus the zones can legit count as 6 models for the tally, I reckon.


Kept them pretty simple, all in all. I couldn't find any ork glyphs kicking about to make suitable landing markers so they'll just have to make do with a generic imperial one should the need arise.

Weather is still cold and generally unsuitable for priming, which is forcing me to attack the pile. looks like the DC stuff is next. unless of course I get distracted by something else shiny
Graven

Shinies are Bane to the Batman me, graven. I feel you. Your orky defenses look smashing. Your other stuff is neat, too (I'm ork-biased, sorry).

Did you ever get Mantics Dungeon saga stuff? They had plastic doors as well. I figure with as much Mantic stuff you have about they are probably buried just like all my stuff .

Ork Glyphs? You have scrap plastic laying around, and I know you can do Orky . Me, I’m the type of grot who gets beaten up a lot because I try to make things look less ramshackle .

Warboss_Waaazag wrote:Shinies are Bane to the Batman me, graven. I feel you. Your orky defenses look smashing. Your other stuff is neat, too (I'm ork-biased, sorry).

Hey, in my house I'm the default Ork player anyway so I appreciate it

Theophony wrote:Did you ever get Mantics Dungeon saga stuff? They had plastic doors as well. I figure with as much Mantic stuff you have about they are probably buried just like all my stuff .

Ork Glyphs? You have scrap plastic laying around, and I know you can do Orky . Me, I’m the type of grot who gets beaten up a lot because I try to make things look less ramshackle .

I am considering Dungeon Saga actually, as the demon it comes with also doubles up as the Lucerferan team captain for Dreadball priorities, right?

Played an Aeronautica scenario today, bombing run, 25 mins including choosing a scenario and force selection. It is irksome (orksome?) that without other planes you can't run most of the other scenarios, but still.

My boy was delighted that he took out my planes really quickly (3 turns), but my ground defenses put paid to his bombers - giving me the win, 10-15. Lesson learned play the scenario, not just shoot everything.

Again, testament to the quality of the game.

Dumbledore, meanwhile, has his base filled, pva/superglue added and set to cure on the radiator:


And on other Aeronautica stuff, I had ideas. Couple of orc shields, symbol one side, X the other, for landing zones

And old school rhino hatches to give me a nice wedged bunker outline. Further detailing required, especially for the Orky one.

On we go!
Graven

A quick note, as you paint so quickly I cannot keep up, mini jets game looks cool. Jokers minions are dead creepy, especially the big fella. No one wants to be on the end of that homemade bludgeon.

I snagged three copies of the 1st edition dungeon saga at Miniature Market a couple years ago for $25 a pop, I couldn’t pass up the deal, all the terrain bits and plenty of zombie trolls .

AI terrain looking good, good use of the hatches.

Good delve into the bits box there

Wish I'd thought of PVA before using half a pack of GS filling the base on mine!

Some great stuff in here recently, sorry I've not commented in a while, I've been variously unwell since before Christmas, so only just catching up. Love the Clowns!

Good heavens Graven! There's so much here I don't even know what to comment on!

Yorkright wrote: A quick note, as you paint so quickly I cannot keep up, mini jets game looks cool. Jokers minions are dead creepy, especially the big fella. No one wants to be on the end of that homemade bludgeon.

I'm really impressed by Aeronautica, it's stupidly quick to pick up and play. The new Borgon is very, very good. The old version was really slow, and whilst the new is no quicker, he's on a 40mm so he's effectively quicker. I could've gone a whole lot creepier with Rastaclown but honestly referencing a kids' tv show amused me too much not to do.

Theophony wrote:I snagged three copies of the 1st edition dungeon saga at Miniature Market a couple years ago for $25 a pop, I couldn’t pass up the deal, all the terrain bits and plenty of zombie trolls .

AI terrain looking good, good use of the hatches.

Yeah I'm going to continue to keep my eyes open for Mantic Saga stuff, regradless. The old-school hatches were too close to the shape of the existing Ork bunkers to pass up. I'm not sure about the stand-in Imperial one, as essentially the official ones look they're made from an old-school round rhino door hatch, but they look more like silos than bunkers and I want a bit of variety. I've also found some battlewagon bits that should work for the Mek yard, just need to make sure they don't encroach on the table top too much. I'm trying to keep things quite low in terms of height so they don't interfere with the game surface.

Slinky wrote:Good delve into the bits box there

Always worth a rummage.

Paradigm wrote:Wish I'd thought of PVA before using half a pack of GS filling the base on mine!

Some great stuff in here recently, sorry I've not commented in a while, I've been variously unwell since before Christmas, so only just catching up. Love the Clowns!

I did some GS in there too, but pva with a drop of superglue can create interesting effects.

Sorry to hear you've been under the weather - there's been a lot of it about. And cheers!

Gitsplitta wrote:Good heavens Graven! There's so much here I don't even know what to comment on!

Paralysis of choice is my downfall too; )

Another kid-oriented weekend, playdates and whatnot.
Got a game of transformers with the eldest, switched the new Megatron into my tank deck and utterly obliterated his (very decent) Soundwave deck; both decks need fine-tuning, interesting lessons learned on both sides. Also, found a metal set of the Arch-Villains of Mega City One in the wild, with the added bonus of money off for box being bashed. Bonus! The boy also picked up the esy build mounted Nighthaunt special character for himself - he's totally smitten so I'm going to have to cave in and figure out how to play AoS
Still, not much p&m done. However, started on the Daemon team for Dreadball:

Sliced off her arm blades.

I think I need to black line more heavily. Again, go down the "comic" look. I have one more Succubus and then half a dozen lesser daemons to start chopping up.

Plodding along,
Graven

She looks cool. Or hot, maybe? I missed where the model originally came from. Mantic, still?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
She looks cool. Or hot, maybe? I missed where the model originally came from. Mantic, still?

Yeah, Mantic here's what I've got of nasty dungeon Saga plastics:




The bottom two are going to be a pain to convert, but I want variety. We shall see.

Pain... We'll they are a demon team.

Nice work on all the things.

Solar_lion wrote:Pain... Well they are a demon team.

lol too true. I think I'll turn them into prone players, although I do have some spare arms also from the full kit that came in a bits bag. At least one of them is missing his right hand already, but the poses are decent for space-football generally.

The Lesser demons (non-succubus) can lob fireballs (which amusingly don't count as bringing Illegal weapons on to the pitch), so I'll need to convert at least a few. I've got 8, so that'll do for 6 players (max for the team) and 2 prone. 2 Succubi strikers, and then suitable models for the guards: I'm not crazy about the suggested models, and they're pricey (well, 17 for 3 basic plastics), so I'll likely find an alternative. Their team captain is supposed to be a winged Incubus but getting a Mantic one is tough, plus they do some really nice Succubus leader models. Maybe some imp cheerleaders too?

Dr H wrote:Nice work on all the things.

Cheers mucker.

So after a bit of a think, I started chopping up Daemons.

The arms have been swapped on a few daemons for some blasting arms; the poses are not fantastic but having variety is good. Couple of head swaps for ones that will be lying prone. Other succubus will get a new head and a new arm. The daemon with 2 chin tusks rather than one has also got two back spikes, so he's going to become the captain, I've decided. Not sure how he's going to get wings though; probably folded, somehow made from scrap. Still to decide how I'm doing the guards, but I'm still leaning towards the Abyssal Guards (essentially just really big versions of the lesser daemons) over the Molochs (huge, fat, cyclopean ones) - apart form anything else, Abyssal Guards will be much, much easier to convert.

I have also been working on Scarecrow

I've removed the weird lumpy crow end of the scythe, and a making a new one. I'm going to add some bats generally.

Oh, speaking of bats, this came.

It's freaking huge!

Looking forward to getting to grips with this... Although want more DCU stuff really

Graven

Excited for Scarecrow and generally happy that you paint up all that amazing DC stuff, so I can look at it but don't have to lift a finger

" Cheers mucker. " Translation into US English, por favor, s'il vous plait?

Also, Devil in a blue dress loincloth. Nice reference.

Viterbi wrote:Excited for Scarecrow and generally happy that you paint up all that amazing DC stuff, so I can look at it but don't have to lift a finger

you're a charmer I'm looking forward to him to, I'm going to stick him in with my Yellow Lantern team for DC

Red Harvest wrote:" Cheers mucker. " Translation into US English, por favor, s'il vous plait?

Also, Devil in a blue dress loincloth. Nice reference.

Mucker= mate, chum, pal. A somewhat old fashioned, rather London bit of slang.
Yes, one of my favourite films, highly significant in history of modern noir blah blah delighted you got the reference!