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blockade23 wrote:The castle Greyskull dice tower is excellent - needs some vines and a lightning bolt background perhaps. As usual, the star wars stuff looks excellent. As far as the OSL on vadar goes - OSL is hard to pull off really well. I think I've only achieved it a few times (generally when I can borrow an airbrush and someone who knows how to use it) but I think it looks good on Vadar. It's not overwhelming and sells the look.

I did consider some vines actually, particularly as part of the gap filling, but instead just added the grass tufts. Thanks for kind comments about Vader! It's a tricky balance to pull off.

muette wrote:That tower dice looks like fun, good paint job on it!

Cheers, and welcome!

To round out the year, finished up the terrain that I treated myself to:

Trying for a badlands/ Ferrix (Andor) vibe.

The building was modified with medge bits

Definitely a legitimate business. Oh my yes. No droid port, their kind isn't welcome here.

The sign is... maybe Deadzone? Definitely not advertising availability of individuals and their wares.


I love that the scatter can be mounted on the roof securely.

Although quite why you would mount this on the roof is beyond me.

Swoop bike and gonk droid. Had to mount him on a base because reasons

Gonky!

And rock formations.

Had an excellent game of Carnevale with the elder spawn yesterday. We decided to break out the giant monsters and see what would happen.

Sadly, my Morgraur (lizard thing) proved absolutely devastating, and whilst the Stryx (bat thing) did cause my leader bother the Morgraur was pretty unstoppable, even in the face of a lot of blood magic (though, bless, the tiny little crossbow wielding thrall came VERY close to finishing it off) when its handler chucked the gypsy crone into the water to be swallowed whole. Fun, if somewhat unbalanced. Then again, the Strigoi (vampire/gypsy faction) are generally a bit underpowered. The rashaar (mythos monsters) aren't necessarily the most powerful but there's a reason the Morgraur is the most expensive model in the game. All looks quite pretty too, though.

2024 was a good year, on balance. I've painted 388 models, slightly down on last year, but I would say generally of better quality. Very broad hobby goals for 2025 include better model photography, finish the sunken brig and perhaps other nautical scatter, more star wars from the classic trilogy and Mando eras, and more board game components (which was actually a 2024 goal but still) such as the ships from Firefly. I have an unfinished old world alliance blood bowl team that needs attention as my lesser spawn wants to try them out, and there will be other gw bits that I've randomly acquired from the combat patrol magazine, too.

Thanks for sticking with me, and see y'all on the other side!
Graven

388 is absolutely spectacular - that's more than one per day, which is awesome! Way better than me unless I count each individual mini on the LI bases as a distinct paint job (which they aren't really). Excited to see the work on the sunken brig and more!

blockade23 wrote:388 is absolutely spectacular - that's more than one per day, which is awesome! Way better than me unless I count each individual mini on the LI bases as a distinct paint job (which they aren't really). Excited to see the work on the sunken brig and more!

Thanks! I'm not necessarily even aiming for those numbers in 2025, just useful to keep track. Tbh that's almost the main reason I use dakka these days. The rise of the metanet and so forth.

I had a very satisfying time with some new shelving, reorganising models on display, getting DC minis out that have long been hidden away, incorporating scenery into displays, repacking hellboy stuff, that sort of thing.

Next, to add LED strips. I also need to make another shelf to give me a bit more room for Carnevale goodies, though that can wait. Even more excitingly, I have convinced lesser spawn to play blood bowl, mostly because he knows he can play it on his PlayStation as well. After a bit of discussing, he's gone for Shambling Undead, which to me feels like a really solid choice. He's quite keen to learn to paint them too, which his brother lost all interest in. Cautiously hopeful this will be a thing for us.
Meanwhile, made a boat!

Sunken brig for Carnevale, which was a supreme secret santa gift. I dislike the edges at the water line, which come with splayed broken boards but just doesn't look right, so need to come up with a solution. Sculpt surf around the edges maybe?
And some progress on my Frugal entry:

Well, the base anyway. First time using fluro paint!

And how it will sit in situ, though I plan to add more stringy goop.

On we go!
Graven

Thanks! I'm not necessarily even aiming for those numbers in 2025, just useful to keep track. Tbh that's almost the main reason I use dakka these days. The rise of the metanet and so forth.

Yes but Dakka makes it way easier for me to see what I've actually done since it's all in one 'channel' - my problem with all the social medias is that I cannot keep track of what I posted where at times. Plus who wants to go back and see facebook posts from 3 years ago?

As far as that carnival sunken ship, I think putting them on a base, building up some tissue paper waves or similar to show it 'going down' would be excellent. Alternatively sand off all the rough edges so it lies flat on a board.

blockade23 wrote:

Thanks! I'm not necessarily even aiming for those numbers in 2025, just useful to keep track. Tbh that's almost the main reason I use dakka these days. The rise of the metanet and so forth.

Yes but Dakka makes it way easier for me to see what I've actually done since it's all in one 'channel' - my problem with all the social medias is that I cannot keep track of what I posted where at times. Plus who wants to go back and see facebook posts from 3 years ago?

As far as that carnival sunken ship, I think putting them on a base, building up some tissue paper waves or similar to show it 'going down' would be excellent. Alternatively sand off all the rough edges so it lies flat on a board.

Well quite, and trying to trawl through instagram posts is even worse. Good shout out the waves btw, that's got me thinking.

So here we go... the Sunken Brig



And some details




So, I really enjoyed this kit, and I've built a lot of mdf in my time. NGL, having built one of their boats and found it very challenging, I was delighted by how straightforward it was. Really superb, well designed, adaptable (I added water, barnacles and weeds with gs and a mix of technical paints and uhu glue). Great kit!
It's been quite nice not painting Star Wars, for all I love my Shatterpoint.
So...
Next, my entry for this month's dakka contest, which is a Space Marine.
There's a lot of Star Wars coming, but other than that, well... not sure. We'll see.
Till then,
Graven

Ooh, I like that boat. There is a Frostgrave scenario it would be perfect for!

JoshInJapan wrote:Ooh, I like that boat. There is a Frostgrave scenario it would be perfect for!

Thanks! Well, if nothing else, TT stuff is very cheap. Or at least I assume it is relatively so to Japan?
Next item on the never-ending pile of shame: a frugal Space Marine!

Captain Terens of the Storm Lions

3D Printed marine, MDF offcut base, free mini of the month Tyranid, uhu glue, and actual gravel from garden. He's named for our school technician, Terry, who is a former GW store manager. He definitely didn't print this on the school's printers.

Also, first time use fluro paint, which was fun.

He's a nice addition the random assortment of Storm Lions I did last year for the kitbash project.

Not my usual power weapon either, and quite low key osl for me

Not painting as much just now, ccgs have distracted me - old school Highlander and 7th Sea, current Dr Who MTG and Lorcana - as well as getting back into the board game pile. However, that may encourage me to start painting tiny spesssheeps, whether they be Firefly or Star Trek. We shall see. Also, the spawn's Shambling Undead have arrived, so we'll be tackling ( )them together.
Make it so
Graven

Love the wrecked ship graven. The frugal marine is pretty awesome too. More like a flamboyant marine!

Looks cool to me!

Gitsplitta wrote:Love the wrecked ship graven. The frugal marine is pretty awesome too. More like a flamboyant marine!

Thanks matey. Loved doing the boat. Marine was fun, and I'll do another ... in March I nabbed the first issue of Combat Patrol for its big cheap sm and a couple of the big nids in passing, also, for that matter.

Warboss_Waaazag wrote:Looks cool to me!

Thanks buddy! You are a troublemaker with all your terrain-ing!

Right. Projects! let's do this... Real Quiet Like.

Special guest: my finger. I have dithered over this for a number of reasons, but mostly, I hate doing camo. However the VJ model color range, which I got for Xmas, has plenty of military greens and browns, so I've no excuse now.

The Han sculpt is just perfection. Although I'm not sure why there's a bit of IG droid on his base (other than to complement Chewie)



The Chewie is a bit cartoony. He's good in game but more likely to use the other sculpt.



The commandos are great sculpts and great in game too. I'm really pleased that Endor lists are a viable subfaction. I just wish we'd get a useful Luke.
And a quick snap with the bunker

I really hate my phone camera

And, continuing the classic saga vibes... We Don't Need their Scum.


IG-88-B. Is this the one Han and Chewie have taken out?

It's a mystery.


Bossk:

Dynamic sculpt, but I don't know that I love it. He is, however, hard as nails in game and a dirt cheap tank.


Boba Fett!

Boba Fett? Where?

I can't believe that I had to freehand the logo
.
Please excuse the shoddy pic. Definitely one of my fave models in a while.

And, the deadliest of them all... Dengar!

Brilliant sculpt when you consider how mocked he is.

Phenomenal in game, too. He's my eldest's favourite sw character, so had to be done.

Also, I decided that, after the success of using some of my Shatterpoint terrain to add height to my storage, I'd do a couple more Carnevale themed risers.

And in situ


Now. Inspired by Nevelon, I am doing a wee stock take.

Carnevale:
6 Mascareri - these have been sitting primed on my desk a while. They're lovely models, but actually quite intimidating. However, there was an excellent strategy guide for them posted the other day which has got me thinking about them again.

Raft of the Damned: this is a terrain piece, really, but will he next month's dakka contest piece - the theme is SURPRISE and what could be more surprising than a great white lodged inside a wooden raft?! Brilliant disguise

Shatterpoint:
Plo Koon, Ahsoka and the Wolf Pack - built and primed. No excuse not to paint... other than the freehand will kill me.

The rest are at best unbuilt.

Primed:
Mandalorians - I have the Mandalorian covert and Djin/Grogu, Grieff and IG-11 to tackle. They are... interesting in game, politely. The Covert are great, Djin etc is disappointing. But I'll get to them. They'll be fun in a multi-coloured way. Gameplay wise the covert give the base game Mandos (Bo Katan and Gar Saxon) much more choice.

Lando Calrissian - Lando, Lobot and Cloud City troopers to do. Lando is my favourite SW character so I really have to do him right. He's very meh in game, and Lobot has a really derpy sculpt, which isn't great motivationally.

Unprimed:
Moff Gideon - this set includes a death trooper and dark troopers, and is among the best in the game. High priority to run in any number of empire lists.

General Veers and Snowtroopers - aside from the fact that this is a seriously stupid set idea, they're very good in game. I have quite mixed feelings about playing empire tbh. But then I think, well it's only a game. It's not like I play Space Marines...

I mean... that's actually not much of a to-do pile, is it? In the grand scheme of things I mean. And, yes, there's other random models kicking about, but nothing I have specific plans for.
Hey ho
Graven

Nice work on all the Star Wars stuff. Really bringing it to life.

Love those risers - did you make them or buy them?

Nevelon wrote:Nice work on all the Star Wars stuff. Really bringing it to life.

Thanks man.

blockade23 wrote:Love those risers - did you make them or buy them?

Cheers! They are 3D printed, part of the Serenissima II set from lordkorhyl on myminifactory.

Those Shatterpoint minis are looking spicy, great job!

You like Bossk because he looks like the original Star Trek Gorn who battled Kirk... which is the best sci-fi character ever created! Even looks just like him... just re-named for a new franchise.

You continue to do impressive work on all that Star Wars stuff!

Great work on all the SW stuff. The standout model for me is Boba Fett. All of his gear looks sun-faded and worn, just like in the films.