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Look good. Nice alterations in the HQ characters.

Can't wait to make a start on my box of BaC

EDC

Nice stuff

I like the smaller scaling of some of the weapons like the plasma pistol and the lightning claw/chain fist on the captain/terminator. Looking forward to paint

And the first 5 tacs are done being built:


Nothing too fancy. One nice thing is that all the bolters and packs are the same/interchangeable, so I don’t need to bother keeping track of who gets what. Next stop is the other half of the squad, which is going to be a HB, F, and a CC sarge. Might just be a BP/chainsword, but I might give him a relevant toy. Need to make some for the VVs anyway, so I might do a few now.

We’ll see how fast I can work over the next week or two. This was The Boy’s last full day of school until the 30th. 4 half days (for teacher conferences, etc), and then Thanksgiving break. This year turkey day is up here with the In-Laws. Blarg. I’m sure I’ll live, but probably won’t enjoy the experience.

Cool. Good to hear it's a fully interchangeable kit.

Nice progress.

EDC

The kit looks to be 100% comparable with the normal stuff. I’ve got the second half of the squad cut, sorted, and 4/5ths cleaned. Plugging away.

Also, some paint.
I’m almost done with Cato, but thought I’d get some feedback before I finish him up and base him.





Some paint rubbed off the backpack when I was working on the banner, and I noticed the gem on the shoulder looks a little sloppy.

Also a WIP is the monk for my friend. Not happy with him, and that’s not improving the more work I do. Might do another layer on the brown to help clean him up, but also not that happy with the way the skin is going. Lack of detail is also an issue, overall he feels flat and cartoony.

High res close up not doing him any favors either.

Very nice work on Cato. Be sure to highlight the raised edges of the cloak.

 Gitsplitta wrote:
Very nice work on Cato. Be sure to highlight the raised edges of the cloak.

I did some highlights on the cloak, and put a purple glaze in the recesses. I can give it another pass.

Cato looks great! The light box is working wonders for you.

I should actually get back to painting him. But I’ve been building.



First squad of the Mk IVs is done. HB/F, CC sarge (with a melta bomb) With the exception of the sarge, who has his in hand, everyone has a sword on their backpack. I think this is how I’m going to keep the squads separate. Squad 1 will have swords, squad 2 will all get holstered bolt pistols, and squad 3 will be plain. Sarge has both arms magnetized, and the flamer is done at the wrist. I don’t know if the arms in the set are actually thicker, but sticking the magnets in for the flamer was a lot was a lot easier then previous jobs. And the armor on the arm hides the join, so if there is a little slop, all is concealed. Although I did a pretty tight job on this one. The HB’s left arm and gun are just set on (but glued to each other) for now, will be painted separately.


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And just in case you were worried about too much 30k in my 40k blog, the last of the sternguard is built.


Of course he does have a Mk IV torso, arms, and combi bolter from the HH box, but the rest are modern bits. He should make the 5th combi melta sternguard, and the 20th overall, Once everyone gets built (looking at the 5 new terminators here) and painted (5 vets in the waiting to paint pile already), that will put me at just over half the 1st company. 20 SG, 10 VV, 12 tac and 5 assault terminators, and the 5 new HH ones, however they get built.

I forgot to add: Going back to the small bases is rough. Marines really do fit better on the 32s. Not that I’m re-basing ~200 guys, but wow. big difference.

OK, I’ve been slacking off, need to post for accountability. Doesn’t help that The Boy has been on half days since last Thursday. But I’ve had no progress since the last post, so need to hit the paintbench soon if I want to meet my monthly goals. Particularly since wed/thur this week are probably going to be mostly spent doing thanksgiving things. We are also on the precipice of the holiday slide, where I’m going to blink and it’s going to be mid-January. So I need to check all my yearly goals and make sure I’m on track, and if not, get at least track-adjacent. That will probably involve a lot of sifting through my own blog, as well the the shelves.

And just so this post is not just a wall of self-shameing text, a friend gave me the UM pin that came in a recent WD. It can join my collection on my gaming coat.

It’s a splash of color, but I’ll live.

I like the "No Guts, No Galaxy" pin.

 Gitsplitta wrote:
I like the "No Guts, No Galaxy" pin.

Of my collection I’m most fond of the Crab Clan pin. There were only 6 made per clan as prototypes, and I don’t think they ever went into full production. L5R was probably my favorite of the CCGs (not a bad RPG either) and one that generated a lot of attachments to the factions and characters.

I just sifted through my last year’s worth of blog posts for data. I’m doing pretty good on my goals. Over the year, I’ve picked up about $675 worth of hobby stuff. Some of that was the last of the store credit, but some real money. Some big ticket items like the KRX cases and the HH:BaC box, and having to pick up new codexes bump that number up quite a bit, but it’s still not an unreasonable amount. Will probably be less next year. Hopefully. I’ve got 53/52 model equivelents done for the year, not counting what’s on the bench now, or the random extra bits. Victory, and still a month left. However, I did let 65 new model equivalents into the house. This is doing bad things to my "paint more then I buy" goal. I’ve got 840 point of Eldar painted at the HIWPI level. I could fudge the numbers with hidden wargear, but would rather not.

So to meet my year end goals:
Paint 120 points of Eldar
Paint 12+ model equivalents

I was doing fine until I added the 41 model equivalents of the Betrayal at Calth box to the pile of shame. I still might be able to pull this off though. I’ve got two guys in the final stages on the bench. I think I could do a 3 man squad of Eldar Jetbikes with minimal effort. That just leaves 4 more. I think I have a few basic marines I could get across the bench with minimal fuss, or the new dread or the old speeder. Would still need some more points worth of Eldar, so getting the jetseer done would help with that. Characters tend to take more time though.

I finished up Sicarius this morning. Put some more highlights and a wash to tie them together on the cloak and some basing. A touch (but not much) blue edging in places as well. He should be dry enough for pictures at this point, I’ll grab some shortly.


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The camera, as always, showing up flaws. I guess it’s a good thing I’m posting here rather then over in the competition thread. Might go back for a touchup pass again. Cape turned out a bitt better with the extra work. Not sure how well that comes through the camera.

Beautifully done man, don't sweat it.

When I actually went back with a brush, I had trouble spotting the little bits of blue that I see on the gold in the picture. If it’s hard to spot holding it up to paint, there is no way I’ll be able to see it on the table.

Freehand is a little sloppy, but nothing for that but practice.

10 more cut, ready for cleaning. ML/F, c-flamer sarge, all with bolt pistols.

I need to get back to painting. Also need to pick what I'm going to do for next months challenge. As I'm not winning any points for my paint jobs, I should see if I can scrape up some votes via subject.

Enjoy your weekends all!

Done with the cleaning, WIP on the assembly; over half way done. Flamer has its magnet done. While I was originally thinking of doing some of the bolters with magnets, in case I needed extras for the all-specialist 30k squads, I don’t think I’m going to bother. Lots of work for something that’s probably never going to be used.

Working on my old rolling table so I can play Civ V while I clean mold lines. Keeps things tolerable. I think I might save the last 10 guys and the terminators for later. Odds of getting a clear day to prime are low at this point, so no rush. And it will be a fun project for some time in the winter when I need a break from painting.

You know Nev... I have a ton of things that I've magnetized that I almost never end up switching from their optimal configuration. Vehicles perhaps.... vanguard with combi-weapons perhaps. Not much else. I actually ended up gluing some things that were previously magnetized because I got tired of the bits falling off every time I moved the figure.

I think I’m past the hump of magnetizing everything. Definitely not for “what-ifs” in the theoretical future. But I do like to play WYSWYG, so a few options are still going to happen. It also lets me use some cool looking bits for shelf deployment that I’d never pay the points for on the table. Like power swords on tac sergeants.

Finished the squad. ML/F, c-flamer sarge. Flamer guy is the only magnet

That’s probably going to be the last thing built for a bit. There is an off chance of them getting primed. This weekend is supposed to be in the high 40s, but partly cloudy. If the humidity is reasonable, stuff might get a coat. Or not, we’ll see.

But when the building stops, the painting goes on! I’ve decided to accept not meeting my paint more then I buy goal. I honestly think I could make it if I wanted to, but it would feel forced. I’d rather take my time, do a good job, and enjoy the painting process more then just being able to check off a box at the end of year tally. I’ve already moved the jetseer to the active part of my paintbench, but haven’t started him yet. He should be enough for me to satisfy my Eldar painting goal for the year. I’m not sure if I want to use him for my entry into the painting comp for this month though. While I’ve made my 1-a-week goal already, I’d like to keep up the pace. So I need to do something else anyway. Here’s what’s on the menu as options:







(OK, some of those have been painted already, but I’m not going to gather up all the primed stuff for another picture)

I’m leaning towards one of the bike HQs, but am not set. Thoughts everyone?

Con-temp-tor! Con-temp-tor! At least, that's what I'm leaning toward for the challenge. We should have a duel!

Vindicator, Contemptor, Biker HQ.
In that order - atleast that's what I'd like to see.
Toying with some ideas of what to buy as my next supply drop, and a Vindi is a maybe. Seeing someone working on one might help me decide

brushcommando wrote:Con-temp-tor! Con-temp-tor! At least, that's what I'm leaning toward for the challenge. We should have a duel!

Zambro wrote:Vindicator, Contemptor, Biker HQ.
In that order - atleast that's what I'd like to see.
Toying with some ideas of what to buy as my next supply drop, and a Vindi is a maybe. Seeing someone working on one might help me decide

With everything going on this month, I’m not sure I’ve got the time for a big vehicle. Also, my motivation is not the best right now, so I need a project I can get behind. So I went over to my primed pile and gazed upon it to decide who I wanted to paint the most. Figuring that would help me actually get to the bench to work, as I’m slacking off hard right now. And the winner was the bike librarian. So it’s biker psycher month here. I sat down and put the first coats down on both the jetseer and librarian’s rides. I figure once I power through the bikes, the riders should go a lot smoother. But paint is flowing again.

I do want to get going on my Vindi, but realistically it’s not going to be this month. I’ve got a few dozen batches of cookies I need to bake, and will be taking a week away to drive to Kentucky to visit my folks. Plus all the shopping, etc. The Contemptor will get done eventually, but is a low-ish priority. On the bright side, his smooth stylings should paint up a lot easier then most imperial vehicles. But I prefer my angry washing machines over tubby as far as dread go; although I do love my walking coffins in general.

In workbench progress, I put together a power sword (from BaC) with the last shoulder pad from the UM sprue and stuck a magnet in there. Chucked it into the prime box.

In distraction anti-progress, I picked up Fallout 2 and 3 from the steam sale, and started playing 3. Fun little game. Also, watching some more TV, mostly some anime, but also put Game of Thrones into my netflix DVD queue and watched the first disk. Enjoying stuff so far.

Rain stopped, looks to be drying out and warmer. Bit windy though, so not able to prime. We’ll see how it looks tomorrow.

Those Tac Marine are coming along nicely Nev. Good work

Cato is looking very cool, excellent work Nev. Personally I'm not too sure about the green eyes but I can see with all the red on the head crest and brocade on the chest that you'd go with something other than red.

I vote for the B@C chaplain!

EDC

All that magnetisation looks like a labour of love, a great display of hobby skills, patience and ingenuity there.

I feel your pain with the attempt to not buy more than you paint and I think you have come up with the most sensible option. This is not a cheap hobby so you may as well paint each miniature to the best of your ability rather than rushing through them all.

Would love to see you tackle the BaC Chaplain, such a great model.

War Kitten wrote:Those Tac Marine are coming along nicely Nev. Good work

Thanks. The weather was not cooperating, so they will probably wait until spring for paint.

Adamski Alders wrote:Cato is looking very cool, excellent work Nev. Personally I'm not too sure about the green eyes but I can see with all the red on the head crest and brocade on the chest that you'd go with something other than red.

While some early RTB01 boys just have black eyes, I’ve been painting SM eyes and lenses with metallic green for a long time now. It’s one of those things that is constant across all my armies that helps tie them together.

evildrcheese wrote:I vote for the B@C chaplain!

EDC

He’s high on the list of things I’m looking forward to paint. I didn’t paint him for the Dec. challenge for a few reasons. One was I want to try some new techniques on the BaC guys. They are going to be on different bases, so I’m not as fixated on them conforming to my army standards. And I think I might want to practice on the rank and file first. And they still need to be primed. The other major reason was his popularity. There is no way I can paint him to the standards of some of the other entrants, and I didn’t want to go head to head with them. I figured a kit bash would be a stronger piece. The bike librarian was a good mix of things I wanted to paint and originality.

Thraxas Of Turai wrote:All that magnetisation looks like a labour of love, a great display of hobby skills, patience and ingenuity there.

I feel your pain with the attempt to not buy more than you paint and I think you have come up with the most sensible option. This is not a cheap hobby so you may as well paint each miniature to the best of your ability rather than rushing through them all.

Would love to see you tackle the BaC Chaplain, such a great model.

I keep meaning to break out all the magnetized bits and take a picture, just to see where I stand. I should probably start thinking about my year end posts and organizing a photo shoot or two. There are thing I’ve magnetized that were a mistake. I did the gun/missile pods on my stormtalon, and have never swapped them, or even thought about it. But as someone who goes for WYSWYG, and can’t afford tons of duplicates, a little bit can help in the right spot.

I’ve got major and minor goals. The major ones are posting ~weekly and the one-a-week mini target. The "Paint more then I buy" goal evolved from "Paint all my new purchases” For the most part it’s not a huge deal, but when I toss a new starter box onto the pile, it gets rough. But while a good concept, I think rigedly adhering to it would be a mistake, so I’m not going to!

I’ve made some progress on the paintbench, will grab some pics later today.
Edit: pic:

Yesterday was warm, but rainy. Today was a little close, but I decided to risk it. 5 day forecast shows nothing but cooler temps and chances of showers. It was now or spring. The rattle can says warmer then 50F, and less then 65% humidity. Little airport up the road says 55F, 62% humidity. Let’s Dance! Looks to have gone on clean.



I’m calling the monk finished. The ultra-zoom close up does not do him any favors. But seeing how we mostly use a collection of pre-painted D&D and Pathfinder plastics, he does not need to be spectacular. I just feel bad that he didn’t turn out better. I’ll blame the 3D printing, but I’m not sure how much at fault it is.

I should focus more on cookie baking then modeling. I have less then a week and a half to bang out around 20 batches. Most are fairly simple to do, but others require a bit of labor. Does make for interesting trips to the grocery store to pick up 8lbs. of butter. Was (and still am) having problems getting into the Christmas spirit. The Boy was misbehaving badly at the start of the month and just finished being grounded for a week. Adds a lot of Bah Humbug! when I have to be the heavy and crack the whip as the resident disciplinarian.

Hope everyone has a good weekend. Happy hanukah for those who celebrate. For those who don’t, you should. At it’s core, it’s a celebration of oil, so go eat something deep fried!

--Nev

They look fine and ready for you brush mate. Understand completely about your issues with the young'un. Been there myself. Sucks.

I know the year is not over yet, and I still have two guys on the bench, But I was looking for something to do this morning while drinking my coffee (and the computer patched) so I dragged everyone out for a photo shoot.

Not pictured is the monk, and the two WIP bikes.

By way of comparison, here is 2014:

Although like this year, I think the last second entries are missing from that pic. 3 Vanguard vets and the Raven.

And now I should get out and run some errands. That holiday shopping won’t do itself...

Pretty nice year-end compilation Nev! I'll probably post a similar thing on my own blog since it seems a lot of other people are doing it.