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 JordySteve wrote:
Congrats on the contribution for the model challenge, that is an impressive collection of models.

And nice choice of reward, I was restrained during my visit and decided not to buy anything, although the temptation was there. What made you choose the shard over the other ones?

Nostalgia?

I want to keep the retro feel to my necrons. Sure, it’s all modern plastic, but I’d like it to not feel out of place if someone wanted a 3rd ed throwback game. Not that I’d ever see that happen, but the principle holds true. Back in the day, when the ‘crons were still hammering the snooze alarm there were a few I saw on the other side of the table. At the time there were only 2 c’tan, before they were shards. The Nightbringer and Deceiver. Of the two, the first was far more common. So he’s got a special place in my heart. And he’s got a shiny new kit. Plus there is a Dawn of War factor. So when it came time to pick a centerpeice, there really wasn’t a lot of thought. The only thing that might have come close is if I wanted to get a monolith. But those are crazy expensive, and look to be a PITA to build/paint/transport.

Great effort on the million models challenge! You're going to have to review your 1 mini a month goal - you've gone head and shoulders above that already!

 Zambro wrote:
Great effort on the million models challenge! You're going to have to review your 1 mini a month goal - you've gone head and shoulders above that already!

While true, it’s not really sustainable. For certain definitions of that. Those numbers come from having a secondary army I’m just painting to a battle ready state. No edge highlights, minimal detailing. And I’ve only had one of those for the last 6ish years. Starting in 2020 with the Tyranids, adding the Soulblight, and moving to the Necrons. Nids are done. They might get a unit or two a year, but not the bulk gaunts swarming across the paintbench. The undead have a chunk of stuff still lingering in the pile, but a lot of that is random Cursed City stuff, or old junky skeletons. Things with a low motivation factor. If I keep pace, Necrons will be mostly done by the end of the year. Wrapping them up might be my Army on Parade goal for 2027.

Now this is not dooming and glooming. I’ve still got the Eldar on the back burner. But they do not paint quickly. I’ve been eyeing the new-ish Nighhaunt spearhead. The Orcs in the new box might get paint. Although if someone offers to split a box with me, they are probably gone. I’ve got enough secondary projects that adding a unit to all of them would probably be half my production for the year. But not in the “Lets crank ‘em through” numbers that I’ve been maintaining.

If I do up my goal, it would probably be subtle. Like switch to 5 minis a month instead of 1 a week. 60 vs. 52. But I like the mindset of the 1/week goal. The other option would be to make bespoke goals every year. Look at my bench. See what projects I have in mind. Add a buffer for the known unknowns. Get a number that way. I can kinda do that just by looking at my other goals. Tally up the minis needed to finish the nids, wrap up the company, add a CP/spearhead. 3 old models to clear the PoS. Get a total. Which ironically this year is 52 minis total.

I like the basing on your Necrons. I want something similar for my Sister's, but with some temple tiles mix in.

 Tommygun1918 wrote:
I like the basing on your Necrons. I want something similar for my Sister's, but with some temple tiles mix in.

It’s super simple. Glue rocks/tufts/random bits down. Paint on thinned PVA (I use about a 50:50 mix of glue and water) swish through a tub of flock. Knock off excess. Done.

The Nightbringer? Can't wait to see what you do with that.
Or will it be saved for a possible future Monthly Painting Competition?

Nice job on getting so many minis done already! Looking forward to seeing you tackle the Nightbringer, it's a very cool mini.

I try not to save minis for the painting comp. At one point when I was looking at the primed pile for what to do next I caught myself thinking “That’s a fun model, I want to paint it. But I should save it for the comp if the right topic comes up” Which is exactly the opposite of what the comp is for. It’s to encourage people to paint, not to hold them back. Since that point I try not to save models for a potential comp that may not come.

That said, once I get him built there may be a slight shift in topics at the polls that would favor it...

Not sure if I’ll build him stock or try to remove the scarab swarms. While not a huge fan of them as part of the mini, they do serve to visually break up a model that’s pretty uniform in theme. We’ll see.

--

Lot of decision paralysis on the huntress. So I just slapped down one layer yesterday. I know I wanted the bow in a pale wood, so I put that down to start. Normally I try to paint in some semblance of order, but this one might be extra random. Or I hit the “screw it” stage and just start randomly splashing paint around. Seriously considering switching my comp entry to the free mini of the month, who is almost done. She’s a Votan Jaeger. Very hunter.

And a pic of the minis, as that’s why we are all here. I figured if I’m knocking the dust off the Snakebite Leather, why not the Vermin Fur? There is a reason I owned a zillion different browns back in the day. Somtimes fantasy minis just needed them all.

So stuff off to be based. I think the squat might just stay like that for a bit. I need to figure out a scheme. Initial thoughts were to grab some of the tan crackle paint and do a parched desert base. In the vein of having foe vs. foe schemes (Ultras vs. Nids on snow, Necrons vs. Eldar on grass) I was thinking about how I would do the orcs in the new box. A dusty gorkamorka desert seemed to click with me, and from that the idea on how to base the stuntie. Not that I have any plans on getting more, but the concept holds. Might need to get some new tufts and base details if I want to go down that path.

Getting close to halfway done with the Necrons. 4 more warriors on the handles (with the base silver just down) will make for 20 when they are finished. That will leave me 3 scarab swarms shy of finishing an Indominis box worth of ‘crons. Although thinking about it, I’ve already done all the destroyers, plus the bonus stalker. So I might actually be past the half.

Nightbringer is so swirly. So many ribbons and sashes. It’s like he’s in the middle of an anime magical girl transformation sequence. But actually going together pretty easy. About halfway done with the build. Good clean spots for where the parts join, only a few places where seams needed to be smoothed. Contrast with something like the Nighhaunt spirit hosts, where they were all swirly stuff, and you needed to try to line stuff up just right with no guides to get them together. We’ll see how the lower half gets together. It’s the load bearing part, so hopefully solid.

Enjoy your weekends all.

So the bottom half of the nightbringer is a lot worse then the top. Hard to tell where parts go together, need to get the angle right, some seams in bad places. On the other hand the swirly supports feel pretty stable. But we’ll see once I finish the build.

Construction was also a lot harder because there is no good place to hold it. The whole thing is swirls, so you need to hold it like eggshells.

I know I made a few mistakes, but hopefully they are not noticable in the finished product. One perk of the digital disintegration look; a few gaps are OK.


Almost done. I think I will put the scarbs on.

That's really nice looking model. Do you think it will hold up to the gaming table physically?

Good Lord that thing looks fragile! I mean, it also looks cool and is a huge improvement over the resin version but yeah, kind of like AoS Nighthaunt it's mostly held up by swirly stuff. To be fair, I did build and paint Mortarion some years back and he's mostly held up by fog and cloth, but that was significantly sturdier. Also Saint Celestine and her gal pals, held up only by scrolls (yet they didn't break, probably because the models were pretty light). So swirly stuff can hold up okay, just don't be totally cavalier with it and you'll be fine. I can't imagine Mr. Nightbringer will fit well in a case for gaming though.

Tommygun1918 wrote:That's really nice looking model. Do you think it will hold up to the gaming table physically?

For being held up on swirly stuff? Pretty solid.

ZergSmasher wrote:Good Lord that thing looks fragile! I mean, it also looks cool and is a huge improvement over the resin version but yeah, kind of like AoS Nighthaunt it's mostly held up by swirly stuff. To be fair, I did build and paint Mortarion some years back and he's mostly held up by fog and cloth, but that was significantly sturdier. Also Saint Celestine and her gal pals, held up only by scrolls (yet they didn't break, probably because the models were pretty light). So swirly stuff can hold up okay, just don't be totally cavalier with it and you'll be fine. I can't imagine Mr. Nightbringer will fit well in a case for gaming though.

Yeah. There are multiple points of contact/support, from a wide base and multiple angles. He doesn’t bobble or wobble. Compared to Manfred, who’s up on his skullbeast supported only by his tail. Who does a little dance if you look at him.

Technically I could fit him into my KR case. While floaty, his footprint would fit. I’d need to get a pluck tray, or see if they had a bespoke one for him. None of the ones I currently own would fit him. Things like the doomstalker can fake it in a drop pod tray, but not the nightbringer. He will fit into my 9XL magnetic box if I want to mag up the necrons.

—



Some paint slowly going down. Bat boy is almost done. Not a fan of him, but will get him finished. Archer is picking up more colors as time goes on. I need to decide on what color to do her leggings/bodysuit. Dark green? Bright green? Enough browns on her already…

I really love bat boy. Sorry you're not feeling him. Is it all the brown?

 inmygravenimage wrote:
I really love bat boy. Sorry you're not feeling him. Is it all the brown?

It’s him being a push-fit with some pretty horrible seems/gaps that I didn’t adequately fill. They are a lot more obvious from some angles. But I see them all the time, even when they are out of sight.

 Nevelon wrote:

 inmygravenimage wrote:
I really love bat boy. Sorry you're not feeling him. Is it all the brown?

It’s him being a push-fit with some pretty horrible seems/gaps that I didn’t adequately fill. They are a lot more obvious from some angles. But I see them all the time, even when they are out of sight.

We all see the flaws in our own models more than others do. I think you told me that. Bat boy looks good to me so far.

I’m horrible at listening to my own advice.



Big seem up the leg, and the arms look worse from below. But off to be based now.

We all have those moments I think Nevelon! But Bat Boy looks good to me, honestly I don't think I would have noticed without you pointing those parts out and it's not like you'll be looking at the model from that angle normally anyway!

Necrons are looking great too!

Bat boy is looking great,The shading and highlighting on him is really good, and it is a lovely colour scheme. Can’t wait to see him based.