Another year gone and sadly I've not achieved all I wanted to. I'd like to be able to say it was because I was so busy doing other things, but in reality I was a little lazy when it came to painting and gaming this year. I could have finished a few projects and got a couple more sessions in than I did, but I chose to waste time in other less productive ways and I'm a little ashamed of myself for that. However, I think I've rekindled the hobby flame in the past month or two and have reacquainted myself with some ongoing things. Here's how they're going so far,.
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| Digger-dumpers from the future. |
This kit of futuristic tractors is so good. Infact, it's the kit that was responsible for firing up the hobby mojo again. Sometimes it's nice to have a quick win and these were cleaned, assembled and painted within the space of a week or so. They're fantastic narrative pieces too!
Originally I was going to submit a Sons of Horus army for the Armies on Parade competition this year. I'd finished a squad and a character model but ran out of steam after assembling a Knight Titan from House Aerthegn and the whole project sat on the hearth for four months. Thankfully, I finished the Knight in early December and have since been planning to add a Heavy Bolter support squad as well as a Reaver squad together to fill out the infantry. I'll most likely add a Predator and some Justarians to finish it off and may well enter them next year.
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| Dusty old Sons O' Horus |
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| Thanks Citadel matt varnish for de-saturating ANOTHER load of models. When will I learn? |
I've got a couple of Knights kicking around on the pile and this was a great opportunity to assemble and paint one up. I liked the idea of the Sons Of Horus being a small but heavily armoured force, packing the might of a renegade Knight Titan as an ally. They're really nice kits and the biggest challenge was deciding on a good design for the heraldry. House Aerthegn is usually represented by a nautical star or crossed spears, but I decided to freehand a bat-winged arrow as Carfax's personal heraldry which has come out okay. Definitely going to plan the design a little better next time though!
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| Carfax, Knight of House Aerthegn. |
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| As close as you can get to Carfax without getting your face irradiated. |
As a weird coincidence, I ended up assembling and painting an old Abbadon miniature which ticked another 'classic figure I wanted as a kid' from the list. He was an utter delight to paint and so I'm going to be following him up with a squad of matching Chaos Terminators to form a Black Legion bodyguard. I've recently come into possession of a bucketload of 90's Chaos stuff too, so this project could go anywhere. Whilst digging through the pile of rescue miniatures, I also decided to pick out and paint Fabius Bile - who knows what Chaotic plans 2018 has for this group of veteran bad guys?
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| Despoiling worlds since 1996. Keep up the good work fella! |
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| Creepy Uncle Fabius gonna steal your genes. |
Fabius was actually a bit of an effort to finish as I imagine he'd been battered through various bits boxes and paint jobs before he came to me. One side of his skin-coat was covered in superglue too, so it became more of a restoration project than a painting exercise! Still quite stoked on how he's come out, particularly enjoyed playing around with the reflective effects on his ichor vats.
The High Elf project is sat firmly on the back burner for now, but I'm looking forward to revisiting them. I've a mind to collect a small Undead and Empire army of the same period, but they're very distant projects. Likewise, the Space Hulk project has been temporarily suspended, but I've recently come into possession of the original Chaos Terminators, so I imagine they'll be causing a ruckus in the void at some point!
Sadly, despite a burning desire, I didn't get on the Necromunda reissue train. There were a few bills that had to be paid (real life eh??) and I've still yet to venture back into the Underhive. However, when I do, it'll be with an OG Escher gang backed up with a hired thug based on Purple Aki. Gonna be well grim.
