Hobby Update – Last minute engineering

I wasn’t happy with fielding a block of unpainted troops last week. Mainly as, aesthetically, it didn’t look great in the battle report. So for my next list I specifically went with things that were pre-painted.

Running a slightly different variant to my normal list, I realised there were a few things that I would need to paint (and order) before the game.

The first item on the agenda was to paint one of the many primed metal engineers from my endless pile of miniatures. A couple of late nights later and Dolgin Rockfist was ready to be added to the Karak Silvertop engineering core.

This is by far my favourite engineer model in the GW range (and I have quite a few of them) and I’ll admit to it not being my best painting but to be honest it was a rush job (though the photo’s don’t do it full justice). As normal I need to finish the basing. It did bring back to me that I much prefer to paint metal over plastic (in the same way I prefer plastic over finecast). It just has a nicer feel to it.

The second item on my list was to pick up some more artillery bases. A quick purchase off Tiny Worlds on eBAY (they are great for little modelling supplies, very reliable) and I soon received them in the post. A quick paint job later and they were ready for action.

Now technically they are quite a bit larger than needed for artillery bases, which could put me at a disadvantage when using them as it is easier for them to be charged but frankly they look much better than just mounting them on a standard base and if they are placed in the line, the base incorporates the 1″ gap that should be left between units, so you can just from a solid battleline with them, which just looks better.

To put them in scale

Hobby update – Beastpacks/Chaos Hounds and next up.

It’s been bugging me that I had one element of my Kings of War competition army that wasn’t painted and so I finally knuckled down and ‘finished’ off the 2 troops of Beastpacks. 

Lacking inspiration and to ensure continuity with the rest of the army, I followed the same procedure as the wolves in the Stampede. This meant they looked pretty bland (grey with a blue wash and dry brushed) so I added a few extra bits of detail ensuring the scales/spines were green with a bit of highlighting to signify they might be poisoned. 

I still need to base them but at least I now have a fully painted comp’ army.

Next on the painting table list is to revisit the ghorgon/Brutox models and add more detail to break up the brown and then I may even (shock horror) open up the space marine box, as I’ve been reading a number of the ’40k battles’ series recently and this together with the new rule set, actually has me interested (ok quite excited) about trying it out again! I’ve briefly covered/shown part of my paint scheme in a previous post (dark green with tiger stripes on an orange background as the chapter logo). They will of course be a chapter of my own devising but are currently leaning towards being scions of the blood angels, mainly as loving the fluff around their curse and having just finished off the novel Flesh Tearers it reinforced this. (This might possibly change as previously I leant towards imperial fists but found them a bit boring. But that’s the joy of creating your own chapter, you can play a few games and try out the army styles first, especially as it will just be some friendly games at the club).

With the break from the traditional shades of red on the marines, I might the have to paint the Death Company (once bought) red with black crosses as at least then they will tie back to the parent chapter but as a mirror image as in this chapter those with the curse are more revered for having embraced their fathers final wish for vengeance and blood. Those who hold off from the curse see themselves as having the unenviable duty of overseeing the chapter to ensure its continuality for the next generation. A necessity before they can allow themselves to embrace their fathers legacy. Needless to say, with their larger than average Death Company, the chapter operates on the fringes of the imperium and will normally only commit to solitary actions against targets where total annihilation is required. Their home world’s location currently remains a mystery but it is rumoured to be deep within Xenos territory, on a planet previously colonised but long forgotten by imperium records.

Hobby update – Stampede

Curtesy of another Mierce Miniatures purchase (the wolf front and centre) I was able to finally finish my Stampede for my Kings of War herd army (although I realised I need to finish the eyes as soon as the photo was uploaded). Another box ticked in the road to army completion!

Hobby Update – Greater Stone Elemental

On Tuesday I received a little package at work and when I opened it I found one Golem Enano (translates as Dwarf Golem) from the Spanish company Mom Miniatures.

I’m quite a fan of this company. They produce some of the cheapest miniatures available but they are also nice models. This is offset with them having a limited range of models but their dwarf range is a reasonable size and includes one of my favourite purchasable units that can be used as KOW Ironguard/WHFB Ironbreakers.

The model was resin and came in 3 parts, of which one was the base. The cast was pretty good, not in the same league as the models from Mierce but I think this is because the resin is softer. I did need to clean up some of the injection points and file down a couple of odd surfaces but the softer resin actually made this a 5 minute job. I will add that the resin is still hard enough to make this a solid model you couldn’t dent it with a nail, I used metal tools. After the compulsory wash to get rid of any casting agents (or whatever its actually called – memory is failing me!) I glued it together ready for priming.

For this model I primed it with a white base and used a mechanicus grey base. The whole model was then washed with drakenhof blue (what can I say I love this colour combo) and then drybrushed with Stormfang from GW’s dry range. Runes were picked out with Warplock Bronze. These are the one part of the paint job I’m not entirely happy with as they look too pristine so i’ll need to work out how to weather these. In a first, I actually tried to paint some gems! I kept them a fairly simple uniform green and painted multiple green colours starting dark and working my way lighter. Each coat taking up a smaller surface area of the gem. I suppose it’s a cheats way of trying to get a layer effect (unless this is the basic way of layering – i’m probably showing my ignorance here. One day i’ll watch some painting tutorial vids!). I did plagerised one of the example photos on the MOM site and added some flock to the main model, as well as the base, to try and give the impression of a weathered model that had stood still for a millennium before being called to service.

Overall the model was really nice to put together and both fun and easy to paint (the fact I did it all in 2 nights shows how much I enjoyed it). So below are some photos of the finished product including some with one of my normal dwarves so you can see the size difference.

Monster March – Brushes down!

For those that have not been following #monstermarch, it is a challenge run by Swordmaster of Hoeth on his blog to get us to paint those bigger gribblies that may be sitting in a box, to galvanize us to build and paint them during the month. Not having a particularly big monster, I committed to painting three smaller models, a Chieftain on ‘Chariot’ and two models being used in my Stampede (or ‘the pets’ as Swordmaster calls them 😀).

Progress of all the participants can be found here:

Week one – The beginning

Week two – Painting

Week three – Painting pt 2

Week four – Painting pt 3

Week five – Finished!

(The final post won’t go up until next weekend and i’ll add a link then but i’ve ‘finished’ my models early due to a cancelled work trip so posting ahead of time).

Wolf

I’m a big fan of Mierce Miniatures and this is one of their range. Although it’s a fairly simple colour scheme, I’m really pleased with the grey base and blue wash and drybrush. It is fast becoming my favourite paint job, perhaps due to the simplicity (and I love the model which also helps!).

Bear

This is again another Mierce model (are you noticing a trend here?). This miniature, like the wolf, was pretty much done last week but needed a few finishing touches. As normal after reviewing the photos I noted a few bits that need fixing, namely the pupils, as he appears to be able to look in two different directions at once! I blame my not so steady hands.

Chieftain on ‘Chariot’

Ok so the eagle eyed amongst you may pick out the small inconsistency. Yes there is no Chariot. I may normally avoid proxies like the plague but I love the model and size wise it fits the profile (or base restrictions more accurately).

In terms of the model, it is again another Mierce miniature (like many I took advantage of their recent sale, as they are normally fairly pricey). It is at a stage where I’m almost ready to say it’s done. 

The bones are deliberately left in a rough dirty state. I was aiming to show an aged effect. I do want to add a highlight edge to the purple straps but won’t be able to get to pick up the paint colour I want to use before the close of the challenge. The blade was deliberately left black with a nuln oil wash to darken it further. I will likely drybrush it but want to research onyx blades first. 

In general I tried to add more detail than I would normally bother to do, such as picking out the studs in the saddle. Some more effectively than others but again not having the steadiest hand meant they lacked a uniform size. It makes me think I need one of those lights that surround a magnifying glass so I can really get to the detail easily.

For those at the club reading this (looking at you Dean), note the drybrushing on the riders fur. This is done in the same scheme as the above wolf and will be the basis for the rest of the Beastmen in the army. Kev, thanks for the purple colour recommendation.

I have kept to my normal simple flock basing as (a) I was being lazy (b) it fits in with the rest of the army. Inspired by turkadactyl, I will try and step it up when I finally get round to some of the wood elves.

Lastly I recommend checking out some of the other blogs for their entries as many of the painters are significantly more talented than me (though I’m definitely getting better!).

 

Monster March – Week 2

Continuing with Swordmaster of Hoeths Monster March Challenge I present a couple of photo’s of the progress to date.

Chieftain on ‘Chariot’

The initial base coat is primarily finished (with just the saddle straps to go). The beast has had a wash and drybrush as has the skin of the rider and the horns/bones. I need to start picking out details. Hoping to get this done or at least close to done by the end of next week.

Wolf

I’m really pleased with how this has come out with the grey base, blue wash and light blue highlighting and as far as i’m concerned its pretty much done. I just need to finish the base and eyes.

Bear

Again this model is pretty much done. Base and eyes need to be finished and perhaps another wash as I was a little too heavy on the dry brushing in parts and so am not entirely happy with the finishing. I think the issue is, that I feel the paint used was too light in colour.

Monster March

With me constantly making excuses for not cracking on with any painting recently (in fairness they are not bad excuses, I have a small house, no painting area – bar a coffee table in the lounge, and an ever inquisitive 1 year old that walks around and likes to chew on models left out), I needed something to start the ball rolling again.

As such I’ve signed up to Swordmaster’s Monster March with this beauty from Mierce Miniatures. It is destined to be used as a Tribal Chieftain on Chariot in Kings of War. (His intro post can be found Here).

As a bonus task, I’ll also try and complete the ‘bear’ and ‘wolf’ which are part of my Stampede (though these weren’t submitted as part of my entry).

One day I’ll start and do some simple conversions but when I do it will be using plastic figures and on a smaller scale to these resin ones.