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Are you picking one of the (traditionally) most numerous factions just to taunt we slow modellers?

I think the Skaven really suit your particular style of painting, dare i say better than the Astartes.

I've read that AoS is actually a pretty good game, Shame about the lame-o miniatures. Also the fact it's worsened GW's habit of not bothering to update core troop choices but adding at least 5 butt ugly shrine/butt ugly giant beasty/butt ugly warmachine 'Fisher Price Toy' models when a new army rolls around.

Skaven 2 knocks it out of the park!!! Photos better. Keep going so we can enjoy more awesome models!!!!

Great stuff, Para! It's a shame they're not on square bases...

What is the banner bearer standing on? Looks interesting...

Cheers guys!

@Perkustin: More picking them because they happened to be in the very limited box of minis I have to hand, but that said, I do have some Orks lined up as well... To be honest, I could never do an army or even a regiment like this, takes waaay too long per mini for that!

@Zambro: Round bases all the way, man! Since the AoS repacking started, I've had to reconsider so many Fantasy units I dismissed at the time as not looking great simply because everything looks so much better to me spaced out and on rounds! The Standard is just on some decking made from chopped up coffee stirrer sticks, painted and washed.


Good news, I've just had family visit, and they brought:
- A handful more marines scrounged from around the house
- The decent camera, which I have permission to borrow until I can get my own sorted in a month or two. So after this weekend where I will be trying to get an essay done, it'll be full steam ahead on the Badab project, now in HD!

New camera? That's great news! Looking forward to the next batch of pictures.

And I was referring to the demise of Fantasy as we know (knew?) it... A tragic loss, imo. I'm glad 9th age is out and filling a void.

Well, better camera certainly! It's the one I was using before I came to uni, and pretty damn good, so hopefully I can apply what I've learnt since then with the older ones to this and get some genuinely good pics! I shall experiment a bit, and probably reshoot the better stuff I've done recently.

To be honest, 8 months or so later I'm still in two minds over the whole WFB/AoS stuff. I really, really liked the Old World background and history, and up until the conclusion, I found the End Times fluff really cool as well... but I could never get into it as a game, too many minis needed, particularly in the Core units. Now AoS has reversed the situation; I really like the sound of the game, but the fluff is not as fleshed out or captivating as WFB was... I guess the solution is just to do AoS games with Old World narrative, but the complete lack of interest in my current group makes that something of a dead end...

Really feel for you there. Having a regular gaming group is a wonderful thing. Having a regular group that want to play the way you want is a whole different beast.

To be honest, you won't find me complaining! For a good couple of years before coming to uni, I was without any gaming opportunity at all, so getting in a game a week up here is great. At the moment it's all 40k, but I'll be trying to introduce them to some other bits soon (much easier to get people playing when you're providing all the minis! )

AoS from me will happen at some point, I'm sure of that. Mantic's Undead have been on my radar for ages, and some of the AoS Start Collecting bundles are mighty tempting too (that Lizardman one is awesome!), it's just a case of prioriites (which at the moment are 40k, Marvel/Batman and X-wing, as that's what I'm likely to be able to play any time soon).

Very nice job on the banner bearer and the new camera seems to be doing the job! I think I should invest in one sometime or maybe at least a set up for my phone so my pictures aren't as shaky

Haha, haven't even used the new one yet, those pics from yesterday were taken with the old one! Working on the drummer rat now, though, so tonight's pics will be better!

It's amazing the difference a good camera makes...






Pretty damn pleased with this lot, definitely the best Skaven I've done, plenty of new textures, methods and techniques learned along the way! Got the look I wanted, and picked up a lot too. With them done, it'll be on to Project Badab next week, got the first two minis lined up... Carcharadons Astra and Minotaurs coming soon to a blog near you...

That's all for now, I may well get some better pics of other recent minis tonight, so stay tuned! Any thoughts welcome, thanks for looking!

Yeah those are much better, what camera did you pick up by chance?

It's an Olympus, model 720UZ:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Olympus-SP-720UZ-Digital-Ultra-Camera/dp/B006UABFQC

Not sure yet what I'll go for when I get around to getting my own, nothing as fancy as this but hopefully still leagues better than my older ones.

Fanatasic P. Am absolutely loving those Skaven! Really akes me what to pick up some Skaven now but NO!!! After what I picked up back home and what was waiting for me when I got back and all the stuff I still have to do - total buying freeze for the next few months - total!!!!

 Paradigm wrote:
It's an Olympus, model 720UZ:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Olympus-SP-720UZ-Digital-Ultra-Camera/dp/B006UABFQC

Not sure yet what I'll go for when I get around to getting my own, nothing as fancy as this but hopefully still leagues better than my older ones.

Yeah a 300 dollar camera is pretty damn nice . Who knows maybe you will win a scratch ticket and be able to afford one

I just love skaven. I'd really like to 40k a squad up but I haven't the slightest idea what to do with them (play-wise). Yours a beautiful though... love them!

This is a reasonably priced 20 mega pixel camera para.

Not sure how good the macro is on it or anything though

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00IK01PJC/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1455823218&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=Sony+camera

Nice pictures Para! A lot clearer than before. However, the glare is a bit too much on the drummer... Maybe diffuse the light a bit better? Or do what you did with the champion and banner, as they seems fine.

Edited in a slightly better one, he's now a bit darker but the colours are less washed-out and it looks more like the actual mini. Not sure why the glare was worse on him to be honest, they were all photographed in exactly the same place under the same light...

I'll definitely try another diffuser, with the new camera I have to relearn the setup for this particular one now.

The Skaven look amazing. How much time do you think you put into each guy?

Cheers. Probably around 90 minutes or so per mini, basing included. So not a huge amount of time in the grand scheme of things (though I'd not want to take that long if I had 20/50/200 of the blighters to do for a unit or army! ). There's actually a lot of washes, drybrushes and wet blending that are all pretty quick, so it's not as involved as it looks! The limited colours also saves time switichng paints and such, I can just put a blob of everything on the palette and mix whatever's needed.

They definitely look a lot like the Skaven in Vermintide or Mordheim games. Disgusting smelly ratmen with a penchant for racial supremacy and sneakiness

The Ratmans have come up well. I quite like Skaven, and you've done a very effective job on both. I like the grungy, rusted NMM on the champion. Nice temp camera and good job on getting a new one. I know the previous one has been giving you headaches for awhile.

Cheers guys!

Great stuff I really like the detail touches on the banner rat.

Lovely work here. This blog is directly responsible for me picking up the local shop's second last IoB set though!

Cheers guys!

@Da Boss: Good! Well worth picking up, it's one of the best sets GW have done in terms of both value and quanitity, especially if you're building for a skirmish or mid-size game rather than a full-on WFB army. Hell, if you fancy giving Age of Sigmar a shot there's basically two complete forces there. The characacter minis in particular are also some of the best snap-fit plastics out there.

Back to Badab now in what will probably be my last update for a couple of days. Before I show the mini, I want to set the scene...

Forge World Design Office, Day 1 of the Badab War Campaign projects.

Dev 1: Guys, some bad news from head office. They've given us a list of Chapters they want us to features in Imperial Armour.
Dev 2: And? What's on there?
Dev 1: All the classics. Minotaurs. Red Scorpions. Mantis Warriors. Exorcists...
Dev 2: I'm not seeing the problem here.
Dev 1: Space Sharks
Dev 2: [spews coffee across desk] WHAT? 'Space Sharks'? How can they expect people to take them seriously when they sound like something out of a bad Dr Who script?
*Silence. Murmurs. At last, an idea*
Dev 1: Got it! We Latin up the name a bit, and to be doubly sure, we make them total screaming badasses that no one would ever want to feth with!
Dev 2: That's do it!


Yep, Space Sharks is not a name I'm a fan of, but the brutal, murderous, frankly nuts Carachadons Astra are a dead cool Chapter. Loose cannons with a great subdued armour scheme, a preference for close quarters combat, giving no thought to anything but killing the enemy to a man, these guys are my kind of Marines.



Pretty pleased with this guy, the chainblade 'hatchets' look as mean as I'd hoped they would (they're built from a CSM Chainfist and regular chainsword handles), the CSM helmet looks close enough to MkV Mantilla Pattern to do the job, and the flicked-on blood spatters worked very nicely to give him a real sense of brutality.

Up next, probably early next week, will be a Minotaur, in many ways the opposite of the Carachadons. The pose on the mini I have prepped is a lot more regal and passive, the weaponry more ornate and maybe less practical, the armour and overall scheme will be much brighter (though still plenty weathered). Looking forward to getting to work on it.

Anyway, that's all for now, any thoughts welcome, thanks for reading!

Great work on the Carachadon. The twin chainblades look very effective.

I think their name is just one that through a lack of reiteration sounds as silly as it actually is to us. After all, "Space Wolves", "Rainbow Warriors"... even Ultramarines. Who are painted in an ultramarine blue, and their chapter symbol is an inverted Omega that looks like a "U"...

I mean "Luna Wolves" sounds a hell of a lot less silly than Space Wolves, and actually makes a kind of sense with the wolf and moon relationship.

...pretty much any Space Marine chapter name with "Space" in it sounds awful. "Space Marines" isn't exactly fantastic, either, but I guess makes some kind of sense as a descriptive term.

Very nice! Probably my second favorite chapter to be honest, plus the rules for them in 40k are pretty awesome.

 Azazelx wrote:
Great work on the Carachadon. The twin chainblades look very effective.

I think their name is just one that through a lack of reiteration sounds as silly as it actually is to us. After all, "Space Wolves", "Rainbow Warriors"... even Ultramarines. Who are painted in an ultramarine blue, and their chapter symbol is an inverted Omega that looks like a "U"...

I mean "Luna Wolves" sounds a hell of a lot less silly than Space Wolves, and actually makes a kind of sense with the wolf and moon relationship.

...pretty much any Space Marine chapter name with "Space" in it sounds awful. "Space Marines" isn't exactly fantastic, either, but I guess makes some kind of sense as a descriptive term.

I like the Fenrisian name to be honest - Vlka Fenryka which translates to Wolves of Fenris