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 mcmattila wrote:

Thank you very much! Yeah, same factory or same penitentiary (both?)!

It’s 40k, so it’s probably both. In fact it’s probably also a church too!

 gobert wrote:

 mcmattila wrote:

Thank you very much! Yeah, same factory or same penitentiary (both?)!

It’s 40k, so it’s probably both. In fact it’s probably also a church too!

Hahahah, gobert you took the words right out of my mouth

 zahnib wrote:

 gobert wrote:

 mcmattila wrote:

Thank you very much! Yeah, same factory or same penitentiary (both?)!

It’s 40k, so it’s probably both. In fact it’s probably also a church too!

Hahahah, gobert you took the words right out of my mouth

Don’t forget the breeding/medical center to ensure future generations of workers/inmates/clergy/entertainers

So much detail on those poxwalkers Very vibrant (and quite likely virulent) and amazing paintjob!

Bit of catching up to do.
I've been stalking, but I've been a bit lazy on my writing lately.

Firstly, welcome back to southern Finland!
The huge amount of hobby stores sure is a plus. Almost justifies the higher rents.
Liked your 'travel blog' style post regarding the visit around the different stores!

The Heavy Stubber Cultist is a really cool conversion! Looking forward to see him painted.

I'm not used to see poxwalkers with so many details. As your last batch, these guys are looking amazing!

Also, jealous of your hobby area back in 'landella' ('in the middle of nowhere'. Sorry, had to ).
The current layout of our flat does not allow me to have a proper electric desk. I have to make do with my IKEA corner table, full of monitors, two computers and a small painting area

Always a joy to check this thread. Quality work every time and great writing to back it up.
Kudos.

Viterbi wrote:So much detail on those poxwalkers Very vibrant (and quite likely virulent) and amazing paintjob!

Thanks a lot Viterbi!

Ezki wrote:Bit of catching up to do.
I've been stalking, but I've been a bit lazy on my writing lately.

Heh, you and me both!

Ezki wrote:Firstly, welcome back to southern Finland!
The huge amount of hobby stores sure is a plus. Almost justifies the higher rents.
Liked your 'travel blog' style post regarding the visit around the different stores!

The Heavy Stubber Cultist is a really cool conversion! Looking forward to see him painted.

I'm not used to see poxwalkers with so many details. As your last batch, these guys are looking amazing!

Also, jealous of your hobby area back in 'landella' ('in the middle of nowhere'. Sorry, had to ).
The current layout of our flat does not allow me to have a proper electric desk. I have to make do with my IKEA corner table, full of monitors, two computers and a small painting area

Always a joy to check this thread. Quality work every time and great writing to back it up.
Kudos.

Much appreciated Ezki! Yeah, I suppose most Poxwalkers are done for gaming purposes and quickly painted to "tabletop standard". I wouldn't call mine "masterclass" in any way, but I guess there's a (un)healthy amount of variation in tones. Honestly though, the sculpts do a lot of the work!

And hey, a desk full of computers doesn't sound terrible either! I mean, for painting real estate it does, but computers are cool too!

---

I've been on build mode again, and let me just get on record and say: I'm as slow with my modeling as I am with painting! I had the whole (last) weekend for hobbying, and managed to build a grand total of three and a half models, plus their bases.. I've also been working on a storage solution and some rudimentary mold making.



So first up, the new models! Well, new-ish. I bought the ETB Intercessors triple pack (now OOP, it seems) last spring during the lockdown period and even started working on one of the models (the guy on the left in the pic above). I'm not a huge fan of the bolt rifle design, much preferring the old bolters and pistols. Likewise, the mk7 helmets and backpacks look better than mkX to me. Thankfully they're all more or less interchangeable with the Primaris kit! So yeah, the first guy got his bolter, a mk7 backpack and a custom mk7 helmet. It might not show well in the photo, but I've carved the helmet a bit to join the two eye lenses into a single visor. It's actually a conversion I first created back in my teenage years, inspired by Doomguy (/Doom Slayer).

The second Intercessor also got some mk7 weapons, but a mk3 helmet and backpack. I don't really care for those on mini-marines, so I've still got plenty of them left after building my Devastator squad. They look great on the Primaris bodies though, especially for the more knightly chapters. This one will be a Black Templar! One additional modification I did was shave his chest () smooth for some extra freehand room. (Cawdor ganger for a size comparison.)



I also built two more Corvus Cabalists, this time the characters in the gang - the Shrike Talon and the Shadow Piercer. I think the Talon is one of the coolest models in the GW's current lineup, and was built accord to instructions. The Piercer received a tiny conversion: I clipped off the tip of her sword to give it a bit cleaner lines. For both of their bases I added some plasticard tiles to hint at a ruined city. The Shrike Talon's 40mm base maybe could've used some more decoration, but I didn't want to give the model any more height (with cork board or such), as he already towers over his mates. Maybe I'll add some discarded weapons or other bits before priming..



Then on to the magnets and storage! A couple of months back I decided that it was time to build a magnetized container to store/transport miniatures in. I bought a plastic tub and a big sheet of 0.7mm steel, which I cut into smaller ones at my workplace. I ended up with six 25x33cm sheets, so plenty for future boxes as well. A good thing, as I switched jobs and don't have access to a proper quillotine anymore! I attached the steel sheets to the plastic tubs with nuts, bolts and some washers. There's plenty of room for "regular" sized models (9-10cm), and taller boxes are available should I ever get myself an Imperial Knight! These boxes are stackable and the lid locks securely with kind of clips, which are easy to open.

I got a pack of 3x2mm magnets from GreenStuffWorld and attached them to models' bases with Milliput. I've seen people do this with Greenstuff, but Milliput is cheaper and can be used as an adhesive itself. I was able to pry of a magnet attached with Milliput, but I'm hoping they won't fall of with normal use. If they do, I'll super glue them.



Of course, one always mixes up too much Milliput (/Greenstuff)! I used the extra to finally try out a Blue Stuff mold I made a couple months back. The molds are not perfect (one's okay, the other pretty bad) and the casting added further imperfections, but I reckon they'll be fine for some terrain! I think I'll try to do the wheel mold(s) one more time, but then I really need to take the (plastic) wheel and get on building my final biker!

Those marines are looking good, I'm with you on preferring the MK7 helmet and bolter over the new designs. Those magnetised storage boxes are a good idea as well

 zahnib wrote:
Those marines are looking good, I'm with you on preferring the MK7 helmet and bolter over the new designs. Those magnetised storage boxes are a good idea as well

Cheers zahnib! I'll be going home next weekend, for a week's autumn break. Might make a couple more storage boxes, as well as try to magnetize the rest of my collection. It's not super urgent, as I still have a bit of room in my display cabinet, but nice to have for the future. GW's current models are so intricate, and often so large as well, that they don't really fit their foam cases anymore.

Neat storage solution mcmatilla. Bolting then in to place should make them pretty sturdy. Glueing metal and plastic that size might be a challenge! The blue stuff moulds seem as effective as what I’ve managed so far. I too plan to use some of the deformed bits on bases/terrain. Enjoy a week back home!

 gobert wrote:
Neat storage solution mcmatilla. Bolting then in to place should make them pretty sturdy. Glueing metal and plastic that size might be a challenge! The blue stuff moulds seem as effective as what I’ve managed so far. I too plan to use some of the deformed bits on bases/terrain. Enjoy a week back home!

Thanks gobert, the holiday was well enjoyed! And there's already another one coming

---

Oh boy, it's been a while since I posted, apologies for that. Time to do some catch up! I have a couple new models to show you, but for the sake of neatly organizing the posts and not writing a mile-long post that no-one's going to read, I'll split the updates into a few posts. First of all, what's been going on?



As you might have noticed, my painting / posting has slowed to a very slow crawl. The main reason is that work has been taking quite a lot of my time. Even in the evenings, if I’m not working, I’m so tired that watching Netflix or YouTube is what I end up doing. And so I’ve noticed that I’m only hobbying during the weekends nowadays, which obviously slows my progress.

Of course, I did have that week’s break, but as I travelled to the other side of the country again, I decided that I’d just build, prime and basecoat a few new/old models. Hopefully that translates to finishing some models quicker in the future! I also magnetized the bases of my Underworlds collection.



So what does a man do when he doesn’t have much time to paint anymore? Buys a mountain of new minis to add to the pile of possibility of course! With the impending brexit and whatever it comes with I’ve been stocking up on cheap (relatively speaking) plastic from the UK. If and when there’s additional taxes and more expensive shipping costs to Europe next year, I’m covered! No need to buy any more minis in years! Of course, that never stopped anyone… Nevertheless, the latest additions to the queue are as follows:

-Primaris Intercessors
-Battle Sisters
-Skitarii Rangers / Vanguard
-Ork Boyz
-Poxwalkers (from Dark Imperium box)
-Flagellants
-Chainrasps
-Glaivewraith Stalkers (from Soul Wars box)
-3 Nightvault warbands[/list]

And that made-to-order Indomitus box arrived as well! Not to mention the previous backlog… But in any case, you might see a pattern here. Aside from completing my Nightvault closet collection it’s just basic troop models from various 40k and AoS armies. I find that often these most lowly of game pieces are some of the best looking models from their respective armies. These were pretty much all bought as painting and modeling projects, they won’t be painted as complete (game-legal) squads. The Intercessors, Sisters and Flagellants for example will be used to expand my “Imperial Cult” collection.



All right, now to write that post about Mollog and his entourage, and get some actual content back to this plog…

That’s a veritable haul of minis! Good idea to stock up on stuff that’s likely to see a duty applied. Shame you’ve not managed much painting, but I 100% get the too tired to paint vibes. Hopefully the Christmas period gets a chance to recharge your batteries

 gobert wrote:
That’s a veritable haul of minis! Good idea to stock up on stuff that’s likely to see a duty applied. Shame you’ve not managed much painting, but I 100% get the too tired to paint vibes. Hopefully the Christmas period gets a chance to recharge your batteries

Oh yes, Christmas/New Year's will be a couple of weeks of R&R! Probably not much hobbying though, as I'll be on the go again. Well, maybe I'll bring a few pots of paint along..

---

Okay, time for Mollog and his Mob!



I painted Mollog quite a while back in June, but didn’t have time to paint his minions. They ended up sitting primed until October, when I decided that it was time for them to get painted. I guess Bat Squig counts as my Orktober project?



As with Mollog, I pretty much followed the studio scheme, just altering the colors to be less purple. Because each of the minions has a different color scheme I painted them individually to completion before moving onto the next. This was great fun, and I once again tried wetblending and other more “freeform” techniques. This group was also a great exercise in how to tie the different color schemes together: even with the box art as reference I had to really think about the color choices. I actually ended up repainting the white on Spiteshroom, as the first iteration was too white! In the end I think I managed a cohesive unit, so I’m very happy with the result.



One minor thing that I kind of messed up was the bases, which ended up a bit lighter compared to Mollog’s due to too aggressive drybrushing. And speaking of bases, my word all those mushrooms took a long time to paint!

I've got one more finished model to show you, I'll be posting him tomorrow..

Great to see you're back posting again, I've restarted too after a long enough hiatus and it's been fun catching up with your thread.

Really liked your bikes from the previous pages, they look sweet!

You've got a good haul of minis in for post-Brexit times and Mollog's mob completed is fantastic! That set has always been catching my eye and should consider picking it up before it disappears to eBay.

Lovely Mollog and his Mob. Mollog's base is darker because he casts a greater shadow

They might have taken time but the mushrooms look great! Mollog and his buddys are still some of my favorites, who would have thought that a stalagmite could look both evil and adorable?

Good to hear from you.

Mollog and his friends are looking good! Lovely vibrant colors.

Oh man, hope it's not too late to do a final "cheap" order of minis

That is glorious painting on Mollog and his minions. I really like the smoke effect you have done and your work in tying the group together with certain spot colours is great.

Good luck in getting some more hobby time in. With Covid a lot of people have had a lot of extra spare time. Your work, like mine, seems like the opposite of that so I hope you are able to get more free time to paint.

It’s good to see Mollog back, and looking even cooler with his gang all done up too!

Thank you so much everyone for the wonderful comments! They really made my day!

Tyranid Horde wrote:Great to see you're back posting again, I've restarted too after a long enough hiatus and it's been fun catching up with your thread.
Really liked your bikes from the previous pages, they look sweet!
You've got a good haul of minis in for post-Brexit times and Mollog's mob completed is fantastic! That set has always been catching my eye and should consider picking it up before it disappears to eBay.

Much appreciated Tyranid Horde! I'll have to check out your stuff as well.
I was very happy with the bikes as well, even though they're somewhat cartoony with their flat colors. Unfortunately it seems I'm not going to get the third rider done this year, although painting has been started..

Arakasi wrote:Lovely Mollog and his Mob. Mollog's base is darker because he casts a greater shadow

Thanks a lot Arakasi! That's what I've been telling myself as well

amazingturtles wrote:They might have taken time but the mushrooms look great! Mollog and his buddys are still some of my favorites, who would have thought that a stalagmite could look both evil and adorable?

Heh, I knew these would be right up your alley! Cheers amazingturtles!

Ezki wrote:Good to hear from you.
Mollog and his friends are looking good! Lovely vibrant colors.
Oh man, hope it's not too late to do a final "cheap" order of minis

Thanks Ezki, good to be back! I'd hurry with that order if I were you!

ListenToMeWarriors wrote:That is glorious painting on Mollog and his minions. I really like the smoke effect you have done and your work in tying the group together with certain spot colours is great.
Good luck in getting some more hobby time in. With Covid a lot of people have had a lot of extra spare time. Your work, like mine, seems like the opposite of that so I hope you are able to get more free time to paint.

Much obliged LTMW! I'm glad you like smoke, I do too. I was a bit skeptical at first, but when I started painting (and looked at the studio model for some guidelines), it all came together better than expected! The red on the recesses is my favorite detail, and it took no time or effort at all!
I think my workload hasn't really been effected by Covid, I'm fortunate in that way, but there is quite a lot of it. Last week I decided to make a concentrated effort to build back some good habits, painting/hobbying a little every day being one of them. So far it's been a success!

gobert wrote:It’s good to see Mollog back, and looking even cooler with his gang all done up too!

Many thanks gobert! Hopefully I can get a game in with them during the holidays!

---

Alright, so here's my latest finished piece, completed last weekend. In my opinion this is one of the coolest models of 2019, the Shrike Talon!



As with the Cabalist, I pretty much followed the ‘Eavy Metal color scheme with this model. One of the challenges with the scheme and with this model in particular is the separation of different black elements. Following the painting guide in the assembly instructions booklet (and looking at the studio models), I highlighted the feathers with blue and the hood with brown tones. I’m not sure if the colors still read as blacks, but I’m happy either way! I guess the biggest difference to the studio scheme is that I left out the painted, diamond-shape eyes from the hood. I get why they’re there in the original – to draw attention to the head, but I never liked them that much aesthetically.



I feel some parts of this model were painted a bit sloppily. As I mentioned in the last posts, I haven’t gotten quite as much painting done as I would’ve wanted lately. I noticed that this translated into less accurate painting. After a day or two I seemed to get back to the swing of things though, and the paint started to go where I wanted it to. As I said above, last week I made a conscious effort to get back to painting, and decided that I would at least put paint on my brush (if not the model) every day. Every time I did, I ended up painting for at least an hour! Let’s see how long I can keep this up…



Oh yeah, a small PSA: I’ve treated myself to some new electronics which might affect the photos on this here blog. I got a new Pixel 4a phone with that fancy camera software, which hopefully should lead to WIP shots that have much better color accuracy than before. And from the Black Friday sales I bought a new monitor to replace my previous, 10-year-old one. The important bit is that this new one has an IPS panel which is much better with colors than the TN panel in the old monitor. So, chances are that from now on the photos will be a bit less saturated, as I probably over-saturated everything a bit with the old monitor. Shouldn’t be a dramatic change, but just a heads-up if anyone notices it.

The hood still reads as black to me, the feathers less so - but I think the effect is great, and the separation of the "blacks" is probably more important than "reading as black". I really do enjoy your style of painting.

I just binged your whole thread. There are some really amazing paint jobs and conversions in here. Keep 'em comin'.

Oh and, "Semper Rodentia".

Amazing updates and great work on the Shrike Talon! He looks gorgeous, really love the feathers. Mollog's Mob looks so cool too, Batsquig and living stone are my favorites.

Shrike came out fantastic! I think the blue on his trousers helps me see the rest as black. Best of all they have a really cold aesthetic that rocks!

Snazzy looking Birdman!

Thanks again for all the kind words and sorry for the tardy reply!

Arakasi wrote:The hood still reads as black to me, the feathers less so - but I think the effect is great, and the separation of the "blacks" is probably more important than "reading as black". I really do enjoy your style of painting.

Thanks a lot Arakasi! I agree with you, the feathers are perhaps more of a blue, but the separation is the most important bit. And looking cool!
Heh, every now and then I've wondered if I have "a style".. Apparently I do!

KidCthulhu wrote:I just binged your whole thread. There are some really amazing paint jobs and conversions in here. Keep 'em comin'.
Oh and, "Semper Rodentia".

Many thanks KidCthulhu, and welcome to the blog! New models will come, slowly but surely!
Semper Rodentia!

Viterbi wrote:Amazing updates and great work on the Shrike Talon! He looks gorgeous, really love the feathers. Mollog's Mob looks so cool too, Batsquig and living stone are my favorites.

Much appreciated Viterbi! The feathers too quite some time to paint, so I'm glad it paid off!

gobert wrote:Shrike came out fantastic! I think the blue on his trousers helps me see the rest as black. Best of all they have a really cold aesthetic that rocks!

Cheers! You might be right about the blue pants! And cool to hear that you like the cold palette, that's what I was going for.

aku-chan wrote:Snazzy looking Birdman!

Thanks aku-chan!

---

Okay, another pretty hectic week, which made me miss a couple of days of painting. But I've been chipping away at a couple of rats, so I've not been totally inactive!



They're in a pretty good shape, but sadly I won't be getting them done this year. And that means that in 2020 I didn't finish any models for my Astra Rodentia. Oh well, there's always next year!

My two week holiday starts tomorrow, but I won't have many days for hobbying. Maybe in the first week of the new year, I think I might start assembling my Indomitus box. I also intend to take a group photo of my 2020 finished models. I got to say, there are a lot less of them than I had anticipated, but I'm not too bummed about that. This year I've definitely painted my best models so far, so it's quality over quantity!

Good to see the rats back! I have to agree that your quality seems to be edging upwards of late. There’s been some really great models, I can’t wait to see the whole year in review pic

Those astra rodentia minis are already something to look forward to in 2021, the shoulder pads already look very cool!

Love those Astra Rodentia - they are cute as hell, in a bad way!

That Crow dude is amazing though. Great warband centrepiece model.

The crows look excellent. I'm raven about them!

Fantastic little gross rat-men! Whilst my inner Black Templar wants to purge them, I look forward to seeing more in 2021

Thanks for sharing