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Cool! The new Tau models are great. They look like a lot of fun to paint!

Looking good Zerg. Was Cypher an enjoyable model to paint? I've been toying with the idea of picking him up for ages.

D

@Zambro: I think the Tau have some of the best models in all of 40k while not being so fiddly as to be frustrating to paint. So yes, it should be fun!

@evildrcheese: Thanks for the compliment! Cypher was fun to paint, but assembling him was a bit of a pain, especially when I dropped him and his backpack and arms fell off!

Time for an update! I've been painting a regular Crisis battlesuit to test out my color scheme before applying it to my Commander (its an old Crisis suit, I don't have any of the new ones yet), here is a WIP shot:

I've only done the very basic base colors, he will get some shades to make those armor plates pop, plus some edge highlights. Ultimately I will put a brighter yellow (Citadel Yriel Yellow) over this basecoat, then it will really look good as a contrast for the deep blue. As for the base, I am not going to finish it, rather I will wait until I get some more 50mm bases before I do a nice base for him. With all these large bases on my models, I'm starting to wish GW would sell their texture paint in really big pots, as I stand to go through quite a few! In other Greater Good news, I've assembled some minis that now need some primer. A 10-man Breacher team (with drones and DS8 tactical turret):

And four Kroot:

The Kroot will get some primer when I finish putting together all their buddies (12 of them!). Then I will need to paint them, fortunately I've found a few speed painting tutorials around (including at least one right here on DakkaDakka) for finishing Kroot quickly.
That's all for now, stay tuned for more Greater Good-ness!

Blue and yellow are a great cool combo, I painted my SoB in a yellow and blue theme.

The crisis suit looks great, I really like the flash of yellow on the knee.

EDC

@evildrcheese: Thanks for the compliment, I really like how the color combo is turning out too!

Time for an update: First, a WIP shot of my Commander, taken a couple of days ago (can also be seen on the Unofficial November Painting Challenge thread).

The photo quality for this one is bad because I used my iPod Touch for it. I haven't done anything to the commander since, which is bad because I have, like, a week to get him all done!

Next, we have a WIP shot of that dual fusion Crisis suit:

He's turning out okay, I've drybrushed some edge highlights on the blue armor using Lothern Blue, it really works well, if a bit messy (I'll clean it up later). I've tried doing some glow on the fusion blasters themselves (you can't really see it in the photo), but it isn't done yet. I need to work on my technique for this, as it is quite messy right now. Still, lesson learned for the future.

Here's a pic of my most recent acquisition for my Tau:

Turns out some of my MtG cards were pretty valuable, and the staff at my FLGS has been really helpful in going through my cards and giving me a decent amount of store credit for them. I've got the Kauyon book on special order from the store (hasn't come in yet), then once I sell some more cards I'll hopefully have enough store credit for a Stormsurge!

Here's a pic of the Ghostkeel's weapons, fully assembled and awaiting their magnets so I can swap them out easily:

It looks like the plastic is a bit thin for my usual magnets, so I'll need to be careful or get smaller magnets (although smaller magnets would not be strong enough probably).
That's all for now, more should be forthcoming before too long, so stay tuned!

I really like your blue and yellow scheme for your Tau, nice and different. A eager to see how you get on with the Ghostkeel, it looks like an awesome kit.

@Thraxas: Thanks for the compliment. I have had this scheme planned for a while, so seeing it brought to life has been very, very cool. I'm looking forward to painting that Ghostkeel, as it is perhaps the coolest of the new Tau models!

Well, I've finished my Shas'O for the monthly comp, here are the pics (also found in the competition thread):





He's been a fun mini to paint. Now I just need to paint more of my Tau so he has an army to lead into battle for the Greater Good! I also need to paint his magnetized attachments (shield generator and missile pods).

In addition to painting the Commander, I've managed to fully assemble my Ghostkeel suit:

He is going to be great when he's painted with a scheme similar to the above Commander. I magnetized his main gun, but not the secondary guns (I don't think I'll ever want to take TL burst or flamers on this guy anyway). I might, however, want to try the Fusion Collider instead of the Cyclic Ion Raker, so that is why I went ahead and magnetized it (it wasn't too hard).

Those of you who are following my blog will be interested to hear that, as a result of my ongoing effort to turn my MtG card collection into store credit at my FLGS, I now have a Stormsurge suit special ordered at said FLGS. I'll have to paint that thing as I assemble it (like how I did my Soul Grinder before), as it would be nearly impossible to do any other way. I intend to document every step of the process, so watch for updates here on my blog!

The Commander is looking good Zerg.

Was the GhostKheel an enjoyable build?

EDC

@evildrcheese: Thanks! As for the Ghostkeel, he wasn't too hard to put together, but the final assembly is kind of fiddly (you need to prop the model up with something while the glue dries). The only real issue I had was with the knobby things on one of the leg plates, those just refused to fit right. I should have cut the little locator things off the back of them and just glued them on straight.

I've assembled more Kroot, but there's really nothing to show at the moment. I think for next month's painting challenge I will do my two Assassins (Vindicare and Culexus), as there is no specific theme for the month. I may also try tackling my Chaos Lord on Juggernaut for my Khorne Daemonkin army as well.

My current project is now my Chaos Lord on Juggernaut (or "Juggerlord" as Chaos fans say!). It's an older sculpt, and when fully assembled is fairly heavy as it is metal. I've been painting on it for a couple of days, so here are a couple of WIP shots:

This is the Chaos Lord himself. I replaced the model's stock left arm (which had a plasma pistol) for this Power Fist arm from the Chaos Space Marines box. I also used the shoulder pad with the Khorne symbol from the same box. This way I can run this Lord with the Axe of Khorne/Powerfist combo. Ultimately, when he is finished, his red armor will be even brighter to match the rest of my Khorne Daemonkin army.
Here is his mount:

Instead of Mephiston red I used Khorne red for this model. That way there will be some contrast between the rider and mount. I intend to do all my Daemon Engines with this same basic color scheme, with the exception of my Heldrake, which will get the brighter red like the rest of my vehicles will. I've still got a few base colors to go on these models, then it will be time to hit them with some Agrax Earthshade. After that, I will have to highlight them. I need to finish this by next Thursday (Dec. 10) if at all possible, as I will be using him in a game. Two days later I have a tournament for which I will be needing this guy as well. I intend to continue to show some WIP shots as I work on this model, so keep checking back!

Solid start on the juggalord.

EDC

@EDC: Thanks, he is gonna be cool. It has been fun working with an older model like this, I like the solid feel of a large metal model.

Here are some updated WIP shots:

I realize that these photos don't really show much change from my earlier WIP shots, but in person you would see that the Lord's red armor is much brighter, and the recesses are nicely shaded. The Juggernaut itself still needs a layer of Khorne Red to brighten its armor up, but the brass trim is already highlighted (as is the rider's) with Hashut Copper. Fortunately that coat of Khorne Red is the last major thing the model needs. I will still need to do the eye lenses on the Lord, and the yellow eyes for the Juggernaut, as well as a couple of other details, but I should be able to do it reasonably quickly.
Due to a cancellation by my would-be opponent, my game on Thursday for which I would have needed this model is no longer going to happen. The result is that I have an extra two days to get this guy done. I still need him done by Saturday for a team tournament.
I should have some finished pics for everyone to check out soon, so keep an eye out!

I can definitely see the progress on the lord, but your right the jugga is a little harder to tell.

Nice progress on the lord though, the new highlight is a big improvement.

EDC

@EDC: Thanks, I wasn't originally going to use Evil Sunz Scarlet on my Daemonkin. I primed my Helbrute, Heldrake, and one Rhino with Army Painter Pure Red spray primer, and it ended up looking way brighter than my planned Mephiston Red. Evil Sunz Scarlet is a close match for that, so I went ahead and painted the Helbrute with that, and it looked awesome! I think of it as a happy accident.

Well, the moment you've all been waiting for, my Khorne Daemonkin Chaos Lord on a Juggernaut is complete! Here are the pics:


I hope all you guys viewing my blog like him! I'm very pleased with how he turned out. I know that Lords on Juggernauts are one of the Daemonkin codex's best units, so I'm happy to actually have one now. All I need is some more flesh hounds to run with him...

Anyway, I'm going to shift gears a bit with my next project. I'll be doing my Vindicare and Culexus Assassins for the unofficial monthly painting challenge, so keep watching for those!

Juggalord is looking good. Are they the new plastic assassins or the old sculpts?

EDC

@EDC: Thanks for the compliment! As for the Assassins, they are the old sculpts. The Vindicare is Finecast, and the Culexus is metal. I love the new plastic ones, but at the time I got these the only way to get the plastic ones was in the box game. With what they are charging individually for the plastics now it is still cheaper to get the box game if you want all four assassins.

Its been a little while since I posted an update on this blog, as most of the action this month for me has been centered around my Stormsurge, for which I am doing a separate blog. I've been working on my Vindicare and Culexus assassins, and have realized that painting those highlights is a lot harder than I thought. Here's a quick WIP shot:

This shot does a decent job of hiding the mess I've made trying to put lines on the bodysuits. I used Eshin Gray, which is somewhat subtle. There will be a further highlight (with an even smaller brush) of Fenrisian Gray over this, so I'd better get any problems I'm having sorted out if I want these guys to look any good. Other than the edge highlights, I'm happy with how they are starting to look. Plenty of work to go, though, as I need to finish them by the end of the month for Paradigm's unofficial painting challenge.

Merry Christmas, all! I hope everyone gets something nice!

Well, this is where I'm going to leave the Assassins for now, as I'm just frustrated with how badly I've done the edge highlights:
First, the Vindicare Assassin:

Last, the Culexus Assassin:

I will get back to these at some point to finish them properly, but probably not real soon. They are minimal tabletop quality I feel, and certainly above the 3-color standard that most tournaments use, so they are at a decent stopping point.

Next on my painting agenda will be a Tau Breacher Team, but before I get into that there will be an end-of-year review posted right here on this blog (after I get off work tonight), so stay tuned!

Well, 2015 has come and is almost gone (already gone as of the time of this post for those of you across the pond ), so its time for me to reveal what I have to show for the year, painted model-wise. Here is a group shot of everything I painted this year:

Some of these models actually have a bit of work left on them; I was generous in what constituted "painted" when I assembled this group. I did draw the line at minis that are obviously unfinished (like my Deathwing Land Raider), but some (like the Bloodletters and Assassins) still need plenty of work before they are truly done, but they are at a low-medium tabletop standard. I counted them, and for the larger models/vehicles, I took Gimli's advice from The Return of the King movie and said "That still only counts as one!" The total count of painted miniatures for me in 2015 is 37, and that is with the aforementioned inclusion of lower-standard models to slightly fluff my numbers. Here is a list of them:
Dark Angels:
Azrael, Helm Bearer, Apothecary, Ravenwing Biker, Librarian on Bike, 4x Deathwing Knights, Drop Pod, 5-man Assault Squad, Tactical Sgt. w/Power Fist, Tactical Marine w/Flamer, Dreadnought, Ravenwing Darkshroud
Assassins: Vindicare Assassin, Culexus Assassin
Chaos: Chaos Lord on Juggernaut, 5x Bloodletter of Khorne, 5x Flesh Hounds of Khorne, Dark Vengeance Helbrute, Soul Grinder
Tau: Commander, Crisis Shas'vre
As a New Year's resolution, I intend to paint at least twice as many miniatures in 2016. I'm going to start strong with a Tau Breacher Team, and hopefully I can get at least one of my armies to the point of bringing a fully-painted army to a tournament and actually getting some of those painting points.
Finally, to conclude this review, here is a collection of better-quality images of some of my better pieces, in no particular order. Most of these were entries into Paradigm's monthly painting challenges, but not all of them. Feel free to post which one(s) you like the best!

Dark Vengeance Helbrute


Dark Angels Assault Squad


Soul Grinder


Chaos Lord on Juggernaut


Tau Commander


Ravenwing Darkshroud


Deathwing Knights


Dark Angels Librarian on Bike


HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Nice wee round up there Zerg. Love that soul grinder. Thinking about picking one up at some point. Very nice work on the stone ornaments on the darkshroud. Came out really well. Great job and onto 2016!!! Happy new year fella

@Januine: Thanks! It means a lot coming from a gifted painter like yourself. I'd love to see what you could do with a Soul Grinder!

I've decided maybe I should take a page from a couple of other Dakka people's books and actually quantify my painting goals for 2016. Here they are (in no particular order):
1: Get my Stormsurge assembled and painted.
2: Finish all my models that are currently partially painted. This includes a Nephilim Jetfighter, several Tactical Marines, some Chaos Chosen, a Tau Piranha, some Ravenwing bikers, and probably others I haven't thought of.
3: Paint at least twice as many models as last year (that means 74 models).
4: Paint my Bloodthirster of Insensate Rage.
5: Get the right combination of stuff painted to take a fully painted army to a tournament.
6: Learn to paint small details/freehand more cleanly (my Achilles' heel at the moment).
7: Finally clip all my spare bits off the sprues and put them into a dedicated bits box. No more hunting through the boxes the models came in to find a certain bit.

Maybe having a well-defined set of goals like that will inspire me to get some stuff done this year. Time will tell. First thing up for this year is my Tau Breacher Team. Should be simple enough to get a decent paint job on those. Since they are basic troops, I don't really need to get too fancy.

Well, I've gotten the year started off by putting some paint on my Breacher team, still a lot of work to be done though. Here's where I'm at with the first 5 and their Guardian Drone:

Just the skin and cloth parts done so far, the distinctive blue armor will be next. The drone already has the blue, with gray around the edge of it. When I do the yellow squad and sept markings I will put matching ones on the drone, and whenever I get around to painting my Devilfish I may put the same markings on it to indicate that it belongs to this squad. Much more yet to come on these guys!

On another note, a project for later in the year (spring at the earliest) has arrived for me:

With these and my current partly-painted Nephilim Jetfighter, I will be able to run the Ravenwing Silence Squadron! Its going to be quite a bit of work and I'll be getting my Tau Stormsurge done before I try tackling these, but at least I have them in hand.

More updates will follow, so stay tuned!

Here's another WIP of the same models (minus the drone), I managed to paint their armor blue and their helmet lenses red. The latter needs some cleanup though.

For some reason the blue comes out looking somewhat washed out in this picture, it looks much more vibrant in person. Maybe I need to adjust my camera settings.

I'll be painting the metallic gold parts next, probably followed by the shoulder pad Fire Caste symbols. I do the symbols in black with silver lines, the method I use is to actually paint the whole thing silver, then put black where there's supposed to be black. It ends up looking good, you can see it on the Commander a few posts above.

Base colors and Fire Caste symbols are done, here is a WIP shot:

Now I need to shade these guys, then it'll be time for some highlights. The yellow for the Shas'ui will be given a layer of Yriel Yellow to make it really stand out, and there will also be some yellow squad markings added. For the drone, it will have squad markings matching the Breachers themselves, and it will get a similar shade + highlight treatment.

Just read through the thread and I must say, well done on everything. You've certainly got a lot done, and it does look very nice. I myself am excited for you to work on your Kroot, (for rather obvious reasons, knowing me)

Nice progress on the Tau.

Looming forward to see what you do with the DA fliers, they're really great models. You've certainly got your work cut out for you this year!

EDC

@2bj1: Thanks for taking a look, and thanks for the compliments as well! I've done quite a bit, but not nearly as much as I would like. This year will be different, I hope!

@EDC: Thanks, these Tau models are very cool, which helps keep me motivated. As for the DA flyers, they are probably going to end up waiting till mid-late spring at the earliest, but I myself am looking forward to doing them and running the Silence Squadron in some games. You're definitely right, they are awesome models (some of the best in 40k IMHO).

I've stalled a bit on my painting (RL is a bitch sometimes), but I hope to have real progress to show soon. I've shaded those five Breachers and begun brightening up their armor again. This is my least favorite step of the painting process, as I have to use a small brush so as not to undo the shade, and it takes time. I have already done some drybrushing on the cloth parts (sleeves and pants) and I feel like I made it look good. I'll put pics up when I get a little further on them, then I need to do the other five Breachers.

Well, that's half the squad done and their Guardian drone (minus the bases):

Now I need to do the other half. They've already had a couple of their base colors applied. I'll do them up at the same time as I base these ones. I realize that the freehand unit insignias are not terribly neat, but that is a skill that I'm working on. Since they are basic troops, I'm only worried about getting them to a decent tabletop standard.