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Started clipping a spirit host this morning. Damn, I forgot how irritating GW;s ghosty wisps are to build. There is a perfect angle where the bits line up, but good luck finding it. Sometimes you get a nub/socket, but most of time time you have to wiggle stuff until the contours mesh. Then do it again with glue. Ugh.

Oh, the horror. My kid started out with nighthaunts and the trauma was real.

Nighthaunt models all look like they are pretty easy to paint but they would be a real PITA to assemble, and I'd be worried about them breaking if I looked at them crossways.

inmygravenimage wrote:Oh, the horror. My kid started out with nighthaunts and the trauma was real.

ZergSmasher wrote:Nighthaunt models all look like they are pretty easy to paint but they would be a real PITA to assemble, and I'd be worried about them breaking if I looked at them crossways.

They are pretty much pure swirly gack. Some of the push-fits are fine. But big guys like Manfred, and as I’m learning the spirit hosts, are the stuff pf nightmares. On-brand for the army, but also a massive PITA.

Absolutely. Not the best army to learn the hobby with, don't know what they were thinking with them in the magazine. One thing we did was add extra roses on paper clips as struts to some of the more fragile ones like Lady Oleandar.

 Nevelon wrote:
Welcome aboard!

So I was AFK last week, just got back. So no painting progress (but hopefully make some inroads this weekend) but waiting for my on my return were some boxes:


3 new 4L boxes and a 9L XL. Plus some extras. (bringing me to 6x4L, 1x9L, 1x9XL)

That's one post that needs pinning somewhere.
9L and 4L are my go-to boxes these days. Knowing where to get them leads to visitis to all sorts of odd places. The trays are great too, if you can get them.
The best bit about them is a 9L and a 4L take up about the same space as 2x KR Multicase cardboard boxes, and they fit into double-size KR bags (not backpacks) perfectly.

I went back and edited a little more into into that post (plus adding more here, which I might go back and add later)

The 9XL while not the same footprint is close. It has the same width but is about an inch longer. So while it dose stack, it will slide front/back a little. Not the end of the world, just not what I was expecting.

https://www.reallyusefulproducts.co.uk/usa/#gsc.tab=0

You can order straight from them, but there is no free shipping.

So when you are looking at $26 for <$100 of product (and $40 for 100-200) that’s a significant upcharge. They say you can also get them from Office Max/Office Depot/Staples, but like Amazon, they might not have the full range. This is in the USA. It might be better over the pond on their native soil.

Good info about the KR. I’ve got a Kaiser 2 and 3, so that will be useful to know if my ’Nids ever go out for a game. Or Nighthaunt, as I think I’m going to mag them up.
--



So that was a massive PITA. I like how they look, and they should paint up quick, but man, what a fiddly build. I do need to give them one prop: the bases. While they have frail bits sticking everywhere, it’s all above the footprint of the base. So less chance of bits getting snapped off on the table or in the case. It’s a little thing, but if it wasn’t the case they would probably be destroyed the first time they came out to play.

I would strongly discourage new players from picking up this kit. Which is sad, since they are part of the spearhead game mode designed for beginners. I suspect a lot of these are going to be thrown across the hobby room in frustration and the broken shards will live in bits boxes forever.

Next build will the the grimghast reapers to get my squad up to 10.


I should get some paint down this weekend, running out of month.

So the reapers were not nearly as bad. There were a few fiddly bits, but they were mostly just small parts, not alignment issues. All built, but I need to go back and smooth out some seams not that the glue is dry. It’s 5 sculpts repeated, some of which are similar, but not the same as the soul wars ones. So I broke out the whole squad to see who I would repeat to avoid as much sameness as I could.



Unlike the spirit hosts, these guys are all about hanging off their base. But they have nothing on their boss.

So now that I have the squad, let’s make the character. Hey, AoS has a document with base sizes. The squad is on 32s, might need a 40 for the boss. Nope. 25mm. Well, if that’s what they want. Helped narrow down which body to use for the base, as I needed a more upright one.



Swapping heads is not simple, as they are keyed to the robes they hide under, This one fit with minimal work. It might be sticking out further then normal, but that’s OK. The chains (and the head for that mater) are supposed to go for the bell/champion guy, but you can hide a lot under robes. He’ll get an inverted paintjob to help him stand out. But to be fair, the official model doesn’t stand out much from the rank and file.

3 bodies left. I looked at my bits box and was wondering if I could do a knight of shrouds on foot, but I lack the parts. However, I think I could do some Glaivewraith Stalkers. I should have some undead horse heads kicking around, and converting a scythe to a glave should be within my skillset.

OK, enough about the new. I know you are all here for the nostalgia hit! Nighthaunt, before they were all spun off from a fractured book. Going all the way back to a simpler time, where there was simply the Undead.


Before they were spirit hosts, we just had ghosts. I don’t know if I ever fielded them. They were pretty expensive, but hit like a wet noodle. Immune to anything non-magical (could still be broken by combat results) so you could tarpit with them, but a pretty big investment on a slow moving pit that disintegrated on break and had Ld5. Fun models though, including a classic angry bedsheet.


But if you wanted a slow moving immune to normal crap unit, you wanted wraiths. Sure they were 75 points a model, but has all the whistles and bells. They caused terror, which was fear++ in an aura. With their scythes and better WS, they should actually hit. And if they didn’t kill you they left a stacking to-hit debuff. You could also use them as unit champions. Crazy expensive, but they brought a lot to the table.

When I mentioned you could use them as champions, that includes mounted to join skeleton horsemen. This was an issue model-wise for my largely mounted host. At first, I tried green stuff.

Basically just trying to get robes on a mounted plastic skeleton. You can see my fingerprints. Not the best results.

At one point I found this guy in a dusty old store.

Sorry for the blurry pic. He’s a bit drunk. Has a clever, not the classic scythe. But at least he’s in robes.

And then there is my best option:

Borrowing the Vampire Lord’s mount (his legs are set for living mounts, not the thinner skeletal ones) he was kitbashed from a Dark Elf dark rider. Dremmeled his face out, and clipped the speartip off and replaced it with a scythe carved from cardstick with a skull backer. Little GS to blend them together.


The Banshee was originally a named character wraith from a campaign pack in 5th. She moved into the mainsteam as an actual unit later. The one on the left occasionally would hit the table when I needed a lich on foot. Fun model.


These guys blur the lines. Carrion are more of a zombie bird, but do have those adorable little chibi wraiths on top. These guys have a storied past. When I started my undead I had pledged to keep them rot-free. Not a huge fan of zombies (which were only in metal blisters at the time) and generally that aesthetic. Ghouls as well. So these guys were on my no-buy list. But my friend Phil got me a pair for my birthday one year. “You need these”. And he was not wrong. Even as a mostly mounted undead army, I was slow as molasses. So backfield artillery and other harassment units would do a LOT of damage before I could get stuck in. These guys could fly high turn one, and then drop down and mulch soft units. They got an extra attack for every wound they did, and started with 3/per model. Sure, they were WS3 and S3, but when their primary job was eating unarmored crewmen manning siege engines? That was enough. Of all the units I missed with the split from TK/VC, these guys were the top of the list (along with basic mounted skeletons with options)

OK, time for a second cup of coffee and to get moving on breakfast. And maybe put a blue ink was on some marnies today.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Edit:

The stalkers are a little bit smaller then the reapers. So not sure how well they will mesh as a unit. But now I have 2x4 spook units, both with the allowed musician.

That's a wonderful spooky walk down memory lane. Seeing the old minis is great. Carrion are indeed awesome, as were Wraiths if you could fit them on a list. I think ghosts increased in playability with the move to spirit hosts. Much love for the bedsheet ghost. He was in my old army, too.

Nice to see some of the old lead. I don't have anything quite that old in my Old World collection (the only metal model I have for my Tomb Kings is my Necrotect, and he's not that old unless I'm mistaken), and all of my AoS stuff is of recent vintage. The older metal models had a lot of character, and there's just something satisfying about the heft of those pieces when you move them around.

Were the chibi wraiths ever explained? Make me think of Pratchett's Death Of Rats.

youwashock wrote:That's a wonderful spooky walk down memory lane. Seeing the old minis is great. Carrion are indeed awesome, as were Wraiths if you could fit them on a list. I think ghosts increased in playability with the move to spirit hosts. Much love for the bedsheet ghost. He was in my old army, too.

When AoS first dropped I like what they did with ghosts. I think a multiwound base full of spirits is a lot better. IIRC in prior editions they may have done that with normal non-swirly stuff ghosts? But I’d have to go digging, and there are bigs gaps in my fantasy shelf.

ZergSmasher wrote:Nice to see some of the old lead. I don't have anything quite that old in my Old World collection (the only metal model I have for my Tomb Kings is my Necrotect, and he's not that old unless I'm mistaken), and all of my AoS stuff is of recent vintage. The older metal models had a lot of character, and there's just something satisfying about the heft of those pieces when you move them around.

So much love for old metal. It has its issues, but just feels right. Still: love modern plastics.

Cap'n Facebeard wrote:Were the chibi wraiths ever explained? Make me think of Pratchett's Death Of Rats.

Quick check of the old book. They are the spirits of all the undead bird's victims. With each kill another joins, making them more powerful. No idea if this was retconned later. I’m pretty sure they made the change to TK with new models? Don’t know if the spirits hung around.

--

Hobby news I primed most of the spooks, but not the stalkers. It went on a little odd, but I think will be OK after the basecoat. Did not get any paint down yesterday. I’m slacking badly and need to get out of my rut.

Beautiful old minis, thanks for sharing and telling their story.

That converted reaper lord on the horse is a great idea with great execution.

Creativity is always more impressive when it's done with monopose metal minis!

Good luck on the paint with their multipart plastic spiritual (lol) successors.

Nice stuff Nev.

Cheers,

CB

Captain Brown wrote:Nice stuff Nev.

Cheers,

CB

Thanks

tzurk wrote:Beautiful old minis, thanks for sharing and telling their story.

That converted reaper lord on the horse is a great idea with great execution.

Creativity is always more impressive when it's done with monopose metal minis!

Good luck on the paint with their multipart plastic spiritual (lol) successors.

heh

Converting metal was an ordeal. I’ve got shattered remains of a few failed projects, and a few that turned out OK. I used the same base unit (DE dark riders) to make mounted chaos marauders before they had a kit. That was mostly just a spearhead swap for flails and a paintjob. I think my favorite that comes to mind though is my centaur wight lord. I did a few centaur units (skeleton, chaos knights) but I just like how he turned out.


--

Put the blue ink on the footslogger last night. Got real sloppy. Needs a lot of cleanup. Was going to to the terminator on standby, but after seeing the first mini, decided to stop before it got worse. My hand was just not in it.

Oh hey, I should maybe update my blog with info, and not just post in the competition threads.

So he’s done:


Nothing spectacular, but done.

This month is “Beep Boop” and I’m way behind on so many things, so going easy


I don’t think there has been any progress on the centerpeice since I posted the last WIP. I’m hoping to at least get the sarcophagus done by the end of the month. We’ll see how things go.

Off on vacation next week to visit my folks, going to be a quiet week on the hobby front. Be well all

--Nev

Back and painting. Getting layers down on the beacons. Touch up on the cherubs. moving slow, but forward.

Looking great so far

Getting excited to see that Triumph, Nev. Keep at it!

Looking good mate. Love the auspex screen - nice detail work!

The triumph - how good will it feel to finally put that beast of a thing together...?

Centaur Wight Lord looks suitably badass too. Would make for an awesome boss battle in DND or something.

Thanks for sharing!

Thanks guys.

Slow progress. Motivation about pretty much everything in life is at a low. Plus I’ve been playing a lot of Mechwarrior 5, which eats time. And tried to clean out my gutters yesterday, which broke me for painting.



So beep-bop-booping along on the teleport homers. I wonder which one is Beep and which is Boop? Or is one Iliad and the other Odyssey? They do describe the heroic journey of the terminator squads. Note to self if I ever name the sergeants in my TDA squads to give them appropriate Greek/Trojan names. Which is pretty on-brand for Ultramarines anyway.

Anyway, classic literature aside, they are getting along well. Just put the clean up blue down, ink next. I reversed some of the lights, some red, some green. Not sure if the homers need to be keyed to specific squads, but wanted to differentiate them. Besides the fact that one has 2 anchors down while the other just has 2. I should try to key something on the sarges to them as well.

Triumph is going slow. No way the whole thing is going to be done in time for the comp. I’d like to finish the main part and the leading sister. Almost done with the cherubs. They need the white wash on their wings, as does the departed sister on her armor. Then the whole lower part. Which I had visions of doing in gold veined black marble. Sword and shield sister is getting her basecoats down.

Gold-veined marble sounds awesome. Push on! You got this.

 Nevelon wrote:
I wonder which one is Beep and which is Boop? Or is one Iliad and the other Odyssey?

Boopledee and Boopledum. That marble is still looking great.

I keep talking myself in and out of buying The Triumph of Saint Katherine.
I think I still have about 30 to 50 Marines and several vehicles to paint.

Just keep on pushing on the Triumph. You got this! I'm looking forward to seeing it done, especially as I no longer have one to work on myself. The homers are coming along too, and I like the nice little wink at THE Homer with the idea of naming them Iliad and Odyssey. Although I might name one Simpson...

I’m a bad blogger. Thought I had put an update in. Might have just been in the comp thread.

Homers still waiting on flock and final pics. Ut that’s just a quick thing, so I’ve been procrastinating. Triumph is getting there.



Almost done with the fiddly details. Need a wash on them, then on to the marbleing. Once all the sisters are done it’s going to be largely obscured anyway. Oh, and I still need to do the underside, which should be quick. Lead sister needs some cleanup and her whites done. Plus more work on the back of the shield. Getting there.

So much detail on this, and I’m not even started on most of the gals around it. They will come in piecemeal over the rest of the year.

Next stop is to glue the main bit to the base and some touch up. And finish the leading sister.

So finally got the beacons flocked and photographed. They turned out fine. Although I might have forgotten to gloss the green. Oh well. I can check and touch up.

Disappointed in the half year of the comp. All Ultras. There is more on the YTD shelf, but not in the comp. 2 of the months where I only got a single guy done should have been full squads. Or at least more than one. Some of that I can blame on the Triumph. Which is plugging along. But overall a huge drought of production compared to past years.

Sometimes you just want to paint that nailed down recipe. Still well over onr a month, and you do have the big project still cooking along.

Almost there. Need a few touch ups. THen formal pics