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Ghosts look great, really effective scheme, and you're right about the roses, they do add a surprising amount to the finished look

Well done sir! Also liking the cloth.
I agree the GW kits keep on getting better and better. It's always good to have more dynamic models.

Looking forward to see what conversions you have brewing!

Sorry for the late replies, I've had a bit of hectic time and on top of that now seem to have caught father Nurgle's blessings again..

Theophony wrote:Love the metals you’ve done on these guys.
Ghosts really need better laundry workers. You’d think being ethereal that they would have less muck all about.....

Haha! I think they're a bit selective about the ethereal bit. And the dirty clothes go with the whole scary shtick they've got going on.

Maharg wrote:Ghosts look great, really effective scheme, and you're right about the roses, they do add a surprising amount to the finished look

Cheers Maharg!

Ezki wrote:Well done sir! Also liking the cloth.
I agree the GW kits keep on getting better and better. It's always good to have more dynamic models.
Looking forward to see what conversions you have brewing!

Much appreciated! Hopefully you don't have to wait too long..

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I've been slowly building a couple of models: a couple of new Skaven and some SM scouts, but I'll try to finish the modeling before showing any WIPs. Still need to do greenstuffing and basing, but shouldn't be too long. Really need to get painting some models by next week at the latest.

Okay, at last something to show. Not much, but it's something.. I've built a couple more 40k Skaven, and also begun working on a SM Scout Squad. I'm still working on the bases for the Skaven, no pics of those yet.



First the Skaven. I've built a sneaky sniper and another riflerat, though with a small conversion this time. To reflect the idea that these guys are using any old hardware that can be mustered, I wanted some autoguns in their hands. I converted one from a Cadian lasgun by changing the magazine to one from a bolter, and took a barrel from an old Catachan lasgun.



The sniper was a bit more involved conversion. I wanted to use a Skitarii rifle, and with it would come the hands and arms as well. I did want to retain the Cadian shoulder pads though, so I needed to do some cutting. It didn't go quite as nicely as I'd envisioned, and before greenstuffing I was a bit unsure if I had botched the arms. After the sculpting I reckon he looks good, no need for a redo. Which is good as all the Skitarii rifles are unique, so I couldn't get the same pose again.

I originally thought that the sniper wouldn't be carrying a lot of equipment on him, "traveling light" instead. But he seemed to need something on his back to balance the rifle on the front. Happily I recently received my small order from Kromlech (more on this later), and they had put in two freebie backpacks as well. I felt the other one was perfect for the sniper, and it even fit without any cutting.



Then on to the Scouts. I've actually had the Scout kit and the Scion heads to go with it for a long time, but before I got to building them, I saw West_minis' brilliant Crimson Fists Scouts, that used Scion backpacks as well as the heads. Naturally I had to put the project on hold until I could get my hands on the rest of the Scions kit. This happened last week, and I set to work. The shotgunners were pretty straightforward, requiring only cutting down their back humps and a bit of greenstuff on their necks. Though I got to say that the arms were a right pain to get aligned. Still not sure if they're how they're supposed to.. I'm pretty sure I won't be building another Scout squad after this (other than the Sniper squad I've got in my pile of shame..).



The sergeant on the other hand required more cutting and fixing, as I once again wanted to retain the original shoulderpads. With a bit of creative cutting and some putty, the Scion bolt pistol and power fist arms fit the Scout model pretty great! He's also got a regular Space Marine head from the mkIV kit. It took some effort to attach, as I didn't have a correct drill bit, but I got there in the end. I also cut off the service stud from his forehead.

I started painting the Skaven tonight, making good progress on the robes. I'm hoping to finish them before the end of the month, to enter in Azazel's August challenge. Maybe I could also squeeze in a Scout or two.. Might be a bit too optimistic though.

Seriously, where does the time go..? A little progress update, this is where the Skaven are right now. Tan cloth done, other parts basecoated and washed. Can you tell that one of the rats has its robes painted darker than the other? No? Me neither.. I'm not 100% sure about the red hood/dot pattern, but will see how it looks when finished. I also discovered that when you're flicking paint around with a toothbrush, you can thin the paint too much. As a result, not much speckling on these models. I'm pretty happy with the urban camo pattern though!



So obviously I'm not going to get any scouts done this month, but there's hope for the Skaven yet.

I think the sniper conversion actually came out great! That gun looks nice and stylish, and a bit like an old heirloom. I like it a lot

 amazingturtles wrote:
I think the sniper conversion actually came out great! That gun looks nice and stylish, and a bit like an old heirloom. I like it a lot

Thanks a lot turtles! Yeah, after it got some paint on, it looks very much like a real model! I was thinking about cutting away some of the trim on the rifle, but they give the impression of an older gun and are of course very 40k. Also, less work.

I’m liking the 40k Skaven. Rat-men with guns are definitely fitting of the setting.

Do we call militant skaven guys with head wraps and autoguns “Cheese-hadists”? Pretty please?

They are looking great by the way

The sergeant is awesome, great work!

The Riddle of Steel wrote:I’m liking the 40k Skaven. Rat-men with guns are definitely fitting of the setting.

I think so too! Thanks for stopping by and dropping a comment TRoS!

Theophony wrote:Do we call militant skaven guys with head wraps and autoguns “Cheese-hadists”? Pretty please?
They are looking great by the way

Haha! I've been trying to come up with something other than "40k Skaven" to call these, but "Cheese-hadists" doesn't quite roll off the keyboard.. Maybe Jiz-hadists? No, wait, not that..

Heretic Tom wrote:The sergeant is awesome, great work!

Cheers! He's my favorite also!

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Alright, so August was pretty abysmal in terms of painting, but at least I got these two ratmen finished. Still, progress is progress is progress.



I got most of the paint work done during this past weekend, when I got to spent a night on each model. In a couple of hours, I was able to get them from the "tabletop-ready" state that you saw them in the last WIP photo to basically finished. Sometimes it’s nice to just concentrate on one (small) figure at a time: seeing the progress and getting it done quickly is so satisfying.



I think the urban camo came out pretty nicely for a first try, though the wash and the highlights might have blended the colors together a bit too much. What do you think? I also tried to do some intricate freehand work on top of some decals, and have hopefully pulled it off without making a huge mess.



I intended to take separate photos of the finished bases before I glued the figures on, but I guess that I was so excited to get the minis done that I completely forgot. I did make an extra base so that I could have more choice, but I think I'll show that with the next batch. If I remember to take that picture..

 mcmattila wrote:

Haha! I've been trying to come up with something other than "40k Skaven" to call these, but "Cheese-hadists" doesn't quite roll off the keyboard.. Maybe Jiz-hadists? No, wait, not that..

You could go with current naming conventions and call them Astra Rodentia!

Great work, and the bases are very nice. I hadn't noticed the metal hand before but i really like it.

 amazingturtles wrote:
You could go with current naming conventions and call them Astra Rodentia!
Great work, and the bases are very nice. I hadn't noticed the metal hand before but i really like it.

That sounds pretty good, but might be a bit too noble sounding for some backwater abhuman scum. Though propaganda has its merits..

Thanks again turtles! I was originally against using a bionic hand, as I thought that these guys would be so expendable as to not get them. But as there wasn't much choice in the Skitarii rifles (1 or 2 rifles with both normal hands), I ended up with this pose that had one bionic hand/arm. I figured that maybe a sniper, who's got marginally better aim than its fellow ratmen, would be eligible for a replacement hand

Great job on the rats, love the scarves

These Sqrats/Astra Rodentia/Space Rats/Space Skaven/40k Skaven keep getting better. Love the little dots on their head scarfs, gives them a nice rag-tag militia feel.

JoeRugby wrote:Great job on the rats, love the scarves

Cheers Joe! The scarves are one of my favorite parts as well, though I'm starting to have trouble coming up with different schemes for everyone..

gobert wrote:These Sqrats/Astra Rodentia/Space Rats/Space Skaven/40k Skaven keep getting better. Love the little dots on their head scarfs, gives them a nice rag-tag militia feel.

Thanks a lot gobert! The rag-tag militia feel is exactly what I've been going for with these guys. I want them to look like the Imperium hasn't quite tamed them yet, and for each model to feel individual. Would be good for identification too, from Kill Team perspective etc. Not that I have plans of playing anytime soon, mind..

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I've gone back to Nightvault and started working on the Cursebreakers. The metals are pretty much finished sans the Druchii Violet wash, and I've basecoated the robes and other cloth. The color scheme is pretty much the same "Silverlions" that I've used for my other SCE, but with the red changed to purple. I was also feeling lazy with the gold, and kinda wanted to try something different with it, so it's just basecoated along with the steel, then the whole thing got washed Agrax, followed by a drybrush of Runefang Steel.

Those last two rats are your best yet, really like those head scarves. Solid start on the stormcast too, your quick gold method looks to have worked out well

Maharg wrote:
Those last two rats are your best yet, really like those head scarves. Solid start on the stormcast too, your quick gold method looks to have worked out well

Sorry for the super late response, didn't notice your reply at the time! Thanks man, hopefully I'll keep raising the bar with the coming rats.

---

Apologies for the vox silence, I've been a bit busy lately: I and my wonderful fiancé got married the weekend before last! The wedding prep took quite a lot of time last month, and naturally the hobby slowed down a bit. I'm hoping to get back up to speed soon, both on modelling/painting and on reading/commenting on people's threads here, something which has also fallen by the wayside.

Nevertheless, even though progress has been slow, I haven't been completely idle. I've managed to get the Cursebreakers done!



Model-wise, there's not much to say as they're a stock Nightvault warband. Nice models. I had to do some gap filling, which didn't come out super smooth as I only had greenstuff and it wasn't ideal for the job. I've since bought Milliput, which is maybe better? We'll see in the future, once I get to try it out..



As I said in my previous post, the paint scheme is the Silverlions, as I've done with all my Stormcast, but changed the red cloth to purple, which helps to differentiate the SCE warbands on the board. From fluff POV, I see the cloth color signifying different chambers, a bit like Space Marine chapters mark the companies.



Another new-ish thing I tried with these models was to practice blends, mainly with the hair on Ammis and Rastus, and the flame on Stormsire's hand. I chose to paint the hairdos on Ammis and Rastus differently, again for easier identification on the board. Both started from purple, but on Ammis the color transitions to pink, and on Rastus to blue. I think the colors work pretty well, as they're found in other parts of the models: blue on the glass vials, pink on the weapon straps. Also, stereotypical boy/girl colors



Most examples of Stormsire's flame I've seen have been in some "magical" color. Cheap parlor tricks, I say. I thought that real(-ish) fire would complement the rest of the color scheme best, and I'm pretty happy with the result. To complement the fire, and to draw attention to Stormsire's head I wanted to try red hair. Not quite as intense color as on dwarfs, but still reading as ginger. The image on my head was of the GoT Tormund Giantsbane, which I think I achieved, as my wife looked at the model and said "looks quite like the wildling boss man from GoT."



Finally, by completing this warband I also finished my Nightvault core set, and claimed another square in the hobby bingo ("Paint all minis in a board game and play it")! I've done the tasks in reverse order, as I played the game before painting the models, but I'll still count it. Hopefully I get to play again before the end of the year though!

Nice! Love the fireball!

Sweet purple cloaks! Really nice transitions on the cloaks and flames. Love how clean your metals are, gold is a particularly tricky metal if you ask me but you’ve got it’s vibrancy down

aku-chan wrote:Nice! Love the fireball!

Thanks aku-chan! I'm pretty happy with the flames as well!

gobert wrote:Sweet purple cloaks! Really nice transitions on the cloaks and flames. Love how clean your metals are, gold is a particularly tricky metal if you ask me but you’ve got it’s vibrancy down

Cheers gobert! Hah, the metals literally couldn't be any simpler, just base + wash + drybrush, but I'm glad it's working so well. And I think I'm starting to get a bit better (more restrained) with the DBing.

Just before Orktober turns to November, I've managed to complete the Herculean task of.. Painting two Slugga Boyz. Well, progress is progress, and at least I get to submit a token entry for Azazel's monthly challenge.



This month the challenge was two-fold: Orks or neglected models. These models qualify for both, as they started their lives quite a while ago. I actually built the models and started painting them around 15 years ago, but as my interest in miniatures was waning at the time they were left unfinished. This was a shame as I thought that these were some of my favorite conversions I had done (especially proud of the helmeted head with an open mouth). Well, last Orktober I set out to paint them. I stripped the old paint off, based and primed them, and started with the painting. I quickly got distracted by another project, however, and despite thinking that I'd go back and finish the Boyz pretty soon, here we are a year later



I used the same main scheme that I used on the Ironskull's Boyz. I think that greenskins look pretty good in orange, and haven't seen too many examples by other painters. Maybe it's because orange is a bit of a pain to paint.. If I'd ever end up building a whole army of Orks, I'd probably not go for orange, but for a couple models it's alright. I did try to speed up my painting a bit, as if to practice painting a bigger group, but also because I was a bit strapped for time this month. All in all, these two guys didn't take super long to complete by my standards, and were fun to paint. I still have one Boy primed, and a couple on sprue, so sooner or later I'll return to the orange Waaagh! (working title). Probably in Orktober 2020

I think orange is one of my favorite colors to see and yeah, you don't see it that often. They look great, nice wear and rust.

I once did try an orange scheme paired with blue before being told it was some football teams colors, which saddened me into giving up on it.

Great work on the Orks they look good in orange. The scar on the one without a helmet is a cool addition

Congrats on the wedding, certainly explains your absence for the last month or two. Could you imagine the trouble you'd have been in if you didn't get round to ordering the flowers because you were finishing your Stormcasts and sharing them on Dakka! Good to see you back painting, Stormacasts look great and really love those orks, would love to see a full army of them painted like that

Orange really looks brilliant against the natural skin tones of the orcs - very nice. I also can't stop looking at the stormcast, the purple robes are beautiful. Love the thought you've put into the scheme; they've come out looking cohesive and gorgeous.

Thanks for the amazing feedback guys!

amazingturtles wrote:I think orange is one of my favorite colors to see and yeah, you don't see it that often. They look great, nice wear and rust.
I once did try an orange scheme paired with blue before being told it was some football teams colors, which saddened me into giving up on it.

Orange and blue go together very well, it's not long ago that almost every action movie/game poster was in blue/orange. And there's bound to be a football team for every combination of colors! I say give orange and blue another go if you liked the scheme!

gobert wrote:Great work on the Orks they look good in orange. The scar on the one without a helmet is a cool addition

He really should've worn a helmet, shouldn't he? The scar was already on the model, I just gave it a bit of color!

Maharg wrote:Congrats on the wedding, certainly explains your absence for the last month or two. Could you imagine the trouble you'd have been in if you didn't get round to ordering the flowers because you were finishing your Stormcasts and sharing them on Dakka! Good to see you back painting, Stormacasts look great and really love those orks, would love to see a full army of them painted like that

Haha! I'd imagine that I'd have quite a bit more time to paint right about now, and a distinct lack of a lady in the house.

I'd also love to see an army of these Orks, but don't know if I'd love to paint it! But who knows, maybe a kill team? Definitely a slow grow project thought..

tzurk wrote:Orange really looks brilliant against the natural skin tones of the orcs - very nice. I also can't stop looking at the stormcast, the purple robes are beautiful. Love the thought you've put into the scheme; they've come out looking cohesive and gorgeous.

That's high praise indeed, much appreciated! And welcome to the blog tzurk!

Great Orks! Love the weathering.

 aku-chan wrote:
Great Orks! Love the weathering.

Thank you very muh aku-chan!

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Once again it appears that it's too long since I last posted. Work has been a bit hectic every now and then though, so when I've had some hobby time it's gone to painting and modelling instead of posting... But anyway, let's play catch-up!

After finishing the Orks in my last post I’ve been building stuff for a change. The biggest and most involved piece has been a Sentinel to accompany my Astra Rodentia (after a bit of thought, I like the name. Thanks amazingturtles!)!



I’ve always loved the look of Sentinels, but this was the first time that I’ve actually bought and build one. I’d heard about the great posability of the model, and the kit did not disappoint! To showcase the posability, I decided to model the Sentinel descending a ruined factory floor. The right leg is at its shortest, while the left is extended as far as it goes. A “flex” pose if you will. I also cut off and reposed a couple of the toes to better conform the feet to the base. The cockpit was angled down a bit to further enhance the descending motion.



To integrate the Sentinel to my Skaven, I obviously had to convert the pilot into something more appropriate. I cut off the pilot’s torso and replaced it with one of the unused Plague Monk torsos from making the regular infantry (oh yes, a use for them!). This had two benefits: I got the hunched pose that would’ve been lacking with the human torso, and the head fit with without any modifications (I did greenstuff the neck joint a bit after taking the photo). The arms slotted right in like they were made for it, however I did remove the small screen from the other steering stick. I was a bit worried if the Skaven head was going to fit under the cage, but luckily I had zero problems. The pilot fits in with good clearance around him. If I have one regret it’s that I used the original pilot legs for this model, as you can’t really see them at all when the chassis is assembled. If I’d do this again, I’d just put a blob of greenstuff or some other spacer under the torso, and save myself a pilot for some other projects..



Building the base was fun, though before painting I was a bit worried if it was too far from the infantry bases, aesthetically/thematically speaking. Unpainted it didn’t look too industrial, but thakfully painting fixed it. Oh yeah, and just before priming the model, I added a giant rat from the Plague Monk sprue to the base!



And the finished model:



On to the painting! I’m super pleased with how this one came out! The first thing I needed to do was to decide on a paint scheme. As my rats are supposed to be a ragtag group of fighters using kit from various sources, I could basically choose anything I wanted. I didn’t want to go with the default Cadian scheme, but due to most of my models so far have green flak armor, the scheme could have some green in it. The rats are also fighting in an industrial setting, so some sort of urban camo would be appropriate. With this in mind, the classic Steel Legion vehicle scheme seemed like a perfect fit, and I’ve always liked the scheme too!



It took a bit of research to figure out what colors to use for the gray and the green. Some sources said that the gray was Fortress or Codex Grey, and the green was Rotting Green. While the latter seems accurate, the gray was surely something darker, or something’s up with the old photos of Steel Legion vehicles. But anyway, I used Dawnstone and Nurgling Green for my model, and I think it works pretty well. The camo was painted by first painting the basic shapes on the model, after which the two colors were mixed together and painted on the borders of the two colors to blend them in. The old sources suggested drybrushing for this blending, but the shape of the Sentinel didn’t really work for that so I just painted it in the normal way instead.



In addition to painting a camo scheme on a vehicle, this project was also a great opportunity to practice some new(/ish) techniques. I’m very happy with how all the lights and lenses came out, and had lots of fun doing all the freehand scribblings and weathering. Speaking of weathering, I finally got myself Typhus Corrosion and Ryza Rust (largely inspired by davekay and Azazel), and used them for the exhaust pipes and various other bits. Fun stuff! Painting the base was a bit of a challenge as I wanted to have a bit of color in there so that it’s not just all solid gray, but at the same time I didn’t want the base to steal the show (which a bright red barrel could easily do). Some yellow warning stripes, the red barrel and the wonderful little rat took care of the color, while drybrushing the whole thing with light gray for highlights / dust effects pulled the base together nicely. I also used some other white-ish colors afterwards to introduce a bit of variation, which worked wonders. Now, traditionally speaking, there’s probably not quite enough contrast between the base and the model, but we’re not letting that bother us!



Finally, I’m using this model to claim a square in the hobby bingo: paint a unit and add scenic bases. I’m perhaps cheating a bit, but a single Sentinel can be a unit so I’m counting it. It’s pretty clear now that I wont be getting a single bingo this year. Looking at the grid now, I think I could’ve claimed at least a couple more squares with the models I’ve done so far, but even with those, no bingo. That’s okay though, the card has been a fun additional motivator and I’m sure to try again next year!

Aw, nice, I'm glad the name stuck. Astra Rodentia forever!

Sentinels are tons of fun, they're one of my favorites to see because of how creative people get with them and yours is amazing. the pilot looks perfect in there and the more animals on bases the better, i say.