Off the map

Contrary to a lack of posts, I've actually been quite busy on the painting front! The Ork project is now nearly complete with just the Battlewagon, a few Gretchin and some scenery to finish off, which I'm hoping to get done in the next few weeks. Here's some recent additions - apologies for the darkness in the photees!

Mekanik and Gretchin Assistant.

Painboy with Gretchin Assistant.

Runtherd on his lonesome - finally had an excuse to use an ugly old power claw too!

Ork projects. 

This scenery first started life in 1995 as a weekend project with my Grandad. Being made of hardboard, they lasted much longer than the cardboard and polystyrene scenery I was used to smashing together with retarded paws building and I'm stoked I still have them. However, I felt that they need updating (or more accurately, finishing them off how I originally wanted them!) and it's been a fun little side project. Here's how they used to look,..

Halford grey primer, you've served us well.

Even aged 11, I was pretty misanthropic.

 

And just as juvenile as I am now. 

Little hut.

Ork spelling is the best.

I'll be mounting these on hardboard and adding some awnings to increase their footprint and make them a little more interesting. Obviously I'll be including a poster for forthcoming Goffick Rok events - watch this space for a tour from the mighty SQUIGSTERS OF MERCY soon!

Oh, also finished a couple of the Hybrids off that have been hanging around that Bob sent me awhile back (cheers fella, the Epic stuff is in the queue!) Pretty sure I have a complete set for playing old Space Hulk with now. Really excited that GW have brought the Genestealer Cult back in the last few days with the advent of the amazing looking Deathwatch game. I'm hoping to pick a copy up in the future as the miniatures are wonderful homages to the original look and ethos of the Cult!

Causing a ruckus in a Hive City near you.

The other project I've been preoccupied with has been starting an AOS force. I've never really been a fantasy gamer or painter, but there's a great group of guys at the local shop who got me hyped on the idea recently. I've working my way through the Chaos 'Slaves to Darkness' boxset which has some really nice plastics, painting purely for gaming rather than being a prissy bitch like I usually am. (On a side note, the new starter boxsets are incredible value, seriously considering picking up the Ad-Mech one soon just for fun.) It's been weird switching my brain around to painting in a different way, but it's actually been pretty liberating as I'm also using this set to experiment with some of the effects paints and different painting techniques. I'm not usually one for breaking habits and it's been refreshing to try some new approaches. Here's some progress pictures.

Casting all the spells with ma creepy Beadle arm,...

There's something vaguely Monty Python about these guys and I can't put my finger on it.

Hoping to have the chariot and the cavalry done before the end of the month so I can get some games in. AOS looks pretty simple to play and it'll be fun to get to hang out with the local CH crew. I'm already planning on adding a Giant and some Beastmen to bulk out the force, but more importantly, because I really fancy like painting them! The other old Chaos stuff I was working on will now go towards making up a Mordheim gang for potential future use as they don't really go with this new Chaos force. Was still great fun painting them though!

Jes Goodwin radness!

Accidentally almost did non-metallic metals on the Slaanesh icon - stoked!

No one expects random Slambo.

So plenty to be getting on with! The next things on the painting horizon should be entries for the local shop 'Paint in Black / Purple' competition, but I think I may be being a bit adventurous going for both colours due to time. However, I really want an excuse to build the FW Contemptor and Ravenwing Sammael models that have been sat in the cupboard of shame for over two years - really tempted to take a week off in April when next year's holiday comes around and just spend it painting!

Birthday Times!

Not my birthday obviously! It's been a year since the first post arrived (via a stork and left to be found under a lettuce) on this journal and I'm pretty stoked on how I've been able to use it as a guide of sorts to plan projects and get enthused about current ones. I've had some really nice feedback on my painting and I'm stoked to have got know of so many other amazing painters out there through lurking from one blog to another - you people rule, thanks for being a constant source of inspiration!

For 2016 I've a few projects that I want to concentrate on. Thankfully, there's no wallet-worriers amongst them as I'd like to work off stuff that's been accumulating in the bits box. There's some real treats in there too! Firstly I'd like to finish off the Orks as I'm pretty close to finishing them off now. Here's where I'm up to so far,..

Weirdboy and Minderz.

Not 100% pleased with this as I'm not sure the purple pyjamas were the best choice. I may try and add some stars and moons and make him look like a cartoon wizard one day. Also, the staff is a stand-in until I get more confident with sculpting - spooky glowing eyes though!

These guys are the best!

Seriously, when did GW decide to ret-con Snotlings? These guys are awesome. I'm so impressed at how Kev Adams managed to sculpt so much detail on 10mm figures. The expressions and musculature is phenomenal! This is the first of four Snotting bases - that should be enough for the size of games I'll get to play hopefully!

In the grim darkness of the far future there is only mullets.

Squig-pup.

Finally managed to paint up this amazing proto-Gretchin and Azzbutt's pet Squig! The original target of twenty Gretchin will probably end up being more like ten as I'd like to maybe get a small squad of Madboyz (that and I'm running out of case-space!) The old Squig models are super fun, really characterful tangents that add a great deal of atmosphere to the Ork background.

Wagon with new axles!

This thing is going to be so awesome to build. I've finally managed to track down and fit some new brass axles that will strengthen the overall wagon structure as the old axles had to be removed and were notoriously spindly anyhow. Going to be making a proper go of this thing soon so expect loads of WIP photos! After that there's only a few personalities and I'll leave the green skins be. Pretty sure they clock in at around 1500 points with wargear which is a respectable amount for what I'd want to do with them.

As well as the Orks, I'm going to finish off some Genestealer Hybrids that I was kindly given a few months back. I've also got some amazing sculpts from the 'Wild in the Streets' game which are begging for some attention. I've recently acquired a RTB09 Terminator set, so would love to finally paint up a RT era Blood Angel Terminator squad for use with Space Hulk. Moreover, I'd really like to make an effort to paint up some Fantasy Chaos stuff as everyone around here seems to be on that right now - plus it's a massive excuse to paint up all the old Beastmen that I've had lying around - made a start on this in late December!

Cannot un-hear Skeleton vs Beastman now,..

Finally, I'd like to try and speed up my painting as I struggle to finish anything off in less than six hours. I think this is down to a combination of motivation, paint-scheme and model choice as the recent figures I've finished have all been done under three hours - the thought of finishing off anything in an evening seems unreal; it'd be so good to achieve that!

Only three hours!

I think the main aim for 2016 is to actually play some games. I only played one game of 2nd Edition 40k last year and two games of Space Hulk which is woefully shameful. I'm lucky enough to know loads of people who play various games and I'm hoping that they'll actually believe me when I say I'm going to at least try to roll some dice with them this year. There's already tentative plans for a meet up around late February with Pob and Melon for game and I'm hoping that I might be able to get a few more 2nd Edition battles in with Dave too. Also, I'm sure Stu wouldn't mind if I bullied him into playing Space Hulk once in awhile!

Ooof, that's enough for me to be getting on with then! Hope everyone else out there has a super fun and productive year!

Orks! Tens of em'

It's been a really productive past few weeks for me, with a whole squad of Orks getting done along with a small Dreadnought and some Gretchin too! I've also made good progress on prepping and basing some new additions to the force and have almost finished tidying up the Battlewagon. It's been a refreshing change to have maintained full enthusiasm with this project and so far I've not had any problems other than running out of plastic left arms! Things will probably slow down a little in the next week or so because of Yuletimes, but I'm sure I'll have the majority of this mini-army done for the end of January. I've decided against amassing 20 Gretchin in the immediate future as the ones I'm after are too expensive to really justify buying right now, so I'll probably aim to pick a few up here and there throughout the next few months - plus I'm really fed up with the smell of dettol in the kitchen! Anyway, here's some models,...

We'll maybe hit some things,..

The Boyz! Some great Kev Adams sculpts in here! Particularly like the classic Bad Moon guys with their rad pointed caps. Really stoked on the Boy I chose to be the Nob too, he's a fantastic figure and is covered in great little details - glad to have finally found a home for the old Yarrick power claw that has been idle in the bits-box for nearly 20 years too!

Ugulhard, is a bit like Wattie from the Exploited, but less of a prick.

The only issue I had with these figures was that the plastic arms (particularly the left open-palmed type) don't accommodate weapons very well without green-stuffing. I imagine this is because they were primarily designed for the plastic Boyz that came out around the same time. I also must admit I'm not overly fond of the heavy multi-melta as it sits too high on the shoulder. However, there's little I could really do to lower it save severely hacking into it, which would have probably ended up being a real mess knowing my modelling skills. The Lascannon fella looks rad though!

Imagine painting 40 of those fuckers? No thanks!

The start of a Gretchin Mob. Not really into the Perry sculpts at all, but this guy with the stick-bombs is pretty awesome! Massive soft-spot for the old plastic mono-pose guys too, but not that massive that I'd want to paint more than a few of them! When finished, this Mob will not be uniformly equipped, but will probably be played as such.

Yellow peril.

Really hyped on getting to paint this Dreadnought. I had the option of making the classic version with two ranged weapons, but wasn't feeling the sculpts for either of them. I think he looks far better with just two claws anyway. Sadly this set was missing the hatch and banner pole, but luckily I had one of the old Battlewagon exhausts in the bits box to tidy things up at the back. Bonus Snotling lurking on the base because they're awesome!

Left arm coming soon!

Just this evening finished off (well mostly) the Shokk Attack Mek! Always had a fascination for this model and it was a joy to paint. The detail on the gun is wonderful and it oozes a sense of ramshackle menace. Sadly, this figure was in a real state when I received it and as much as I tried I couldn't quite remove all the paint, so some minor spots aren't as smooth as I'd like them to be. However, it's more than worth the smell of dettol when you get to finally get the excuse to paint loads of Snotlings!

He's having fun, honest.

Currently in the work pile I've this excellent group sculpt which should be finished up next week, loads of Snotlings for the Shokk Attack Gun and a whole Battlewagon! Got a bit too excited about the latter and gave in to painting up the engine block - can't wait to get into the rest of it! I've also got a little scenery project on the go for this army which is slowly taking shape - very much looking forward to having a little Ork Village for these guys to hang out in!

Bodywork optional!

There's a few plans floating in the pipes for next year too. I'm hoping to use Frostgrave as an excuse to paint up some rad old Fantasy figures and I'm really keen on painting a load of old Terminators to use in Space Hulk - really fancy getting enough figures together to roughly play through all the scenarios in Deathwing and Genestealer with the recent edition floor-tiles. Then there's the second edition Tyranids to finish, The Ravenwing, the old Chaos war band for Warhammer, the Wild in the Streets Goth Gang,....

Realistically it's never going to end is it?

Grooving in Green

A few weeks back I was lucky enough to be sent parcels from friends for my birthday. I'm really stoked to have so many friends who skate and either used to, or have an active interest in little men. By some strange quirk of fate, two of these packages included classic Ork kits and models; more specifically 90's Kev Adams Bad Moon sculpts. I've always had a soft spot for the early aesthetic of Games Workshop Orks, particularly through the medium of Paul Bonner's wonderful artwork and Kev Adam's characterful modelling. Although GW fluff makes it clear from the start that Orks are brutal killers, there is something childishly naive and charming about the Ork background during this period.

All getting along together then

Paul Bonner's artwork was everywhere at one point and he had an excellent style that could portray any of the Warhammer 40000 races with accuracy and personality. His work on the Deathwing expansion in particular is excellent. However, it is his Orks that his work really shines through. It would be hard to reconcile the rather 2D characterisation of the present Orks with these creatively comical fellas. Bonner captures the naturalism of Orkish nature as a tumbling, bumbling dangerously out-of-control boulder of a force that crashes from one planet to another in a never-ending pursuit of war - because that's what they do. There is no over-arching, galactic political motive, no honourable quest, just Orks fucking things up. And that's beautiful in it's simplicity.

Awesome.

Anyway. Back to the miniatures. Having no (urgent) projects on the go, I've decided to put together a little Ork army to try and capture the spirit of Bonner's illustrations. Using only Kev Adam's sculpts (which should be easy as he sculpted nearly 99% of all the Orks until 1994) I'm hoping to get the majority of the force done before Christmas. This may seem a little optimistic at first glance, but I've just discovered that painting green is actually really, really good fun.

I'm serious, it's such a good colour.

Since I can't seem to get away from painting yellow and that I've ended up with several specifically Bad Moon figures, it's going to be a pure fluff Bad Moon gathering. Thankfully I don't need to be as nearly as precise or as clean with the colour as I was with the Alaitoc Eldar, so that should save on many agonising hours of holding my breath attempting not to ruin or smudge yellow areas!

The boyz.

So far I'm planning to keep the war band really small and simple. Thankfully I've not needed to spend much on additional bits as I've had a few models kicking around for awhile now. The only additional purchases have been some vanilla boyz and a Shokk Attack Gun with Snotlings. I'll probably add a few character figures in due course, but here is what the first phase looks like,..

Warboss Azzbutt

10 x Ork boyz

1 x Battlewagon

1 x Dreadnought

1 x Shokk Attack Gun

4 x Snotling bases

20 x Gretchin

The Gretchin are going to be mostly made up of the smaller proto-Gretchin 'Runt' figures as they have so much more character than the later models. Plus, it makes more sense in my head to have a rabble of badly armed little guys running around trying to impress the Orks. Obviously this list is not meant for play, but I imagine if I did play them, it would be a hell for leather 'ere we go, all guns blazing not hitting anything tactic - because that's well Orky. So far I've the Warlord painted along with a few Gretchin and some boyz - shall do a proper photo-drop when there's more to show!

Azzbutt.

The painting style is going to be as close as I can to the RT greens, but pretty rough and ready for everything else. I'm really looking forward to modelling and weathering the original Battlewagon, which in itself is an amazing kit for the time - thanks to Pob and The Melon for being so rad and sending me more rad old stuff to paint, you guys are the bestest.

Armies on Parade 2015

So I did eventually manage to just about finish off the Eldar Alaitoc army off, but only just! It was a 2am painting session the evening before that finally saw the last of the work completed. Overall I'm really happy with how they came out and it's been a really good learning experience. Here's the very last units that were completed before the force was displayed at the local GW in the annual Armies on Parade competition.

Insert zooming noises here.

I mentioned in an earlier post about the possibility of adding some of the old jet bikes to the force but didn't actually come across any at a reasonable price until a month before the deadline.  These were good fun to paint and really add some mid-level height to the army as well as the opportunity to whizz around the house like a dick with them. They're really simple four-part figures (not including rider) and have a proper weight to them. The castings were a little off in parts, but nothing a little greenstuff and filing couldn't fix.

Proper flying bases! I always preferred the old hex style base.

Bonus shrieker cannon.

I would have preferred to spend a little more time on them and come up for a slightly more exciting design for the carapace, but they look okay and fit with the rest of the army. I really feel as if I've (finally) cracked using yellow with this project too and I've started adding glazes into the painting process so that should be something fun to play around with in the future. I can't describe how much of an epiphany it was when I realised how much more vivid they made certain colours pop, which is especially useful when painting 1990's inspired armies!

Last of the boy Scouts

The very last thing to finish was the last group of five Scouts. These were okay to paint, but nothing particularly special and felt like a bit of a chore (as the last of any project is want to be). I also had to do quite a bit of modelling work to clean them up as some of the casting was iffy. Still great figures though and it's nice to have had the chance to paint up all nine of the Jes Goodwin Scout models! Anyway, here are some of the entries from the event.,..

Chaos Iron Warriors with Thunderhawk.

Amazing Khemri Undead Army.

Fantasy Ogres on an amazing display board.

Fantasy Goblins on another great board - love those Squigs and Trolls.

Chaos Thousand Sons force that won - some rad airbrush stuff going on with these guys!

My Eldar on the day - stoked to have finally finished them!

The guys at the local shop really do go out of their way to hype up the event and it really paid off, with 18 entrants this year which turned out to be a record for the country! There were loads of other great boards that I didn't get to photograph, including a rad Werewolf-themed Fantasy display and an Undead graveyard scene.  I was really impressed at some of the scratch-built boards and the amount of narrative that was happening in some of them (something which my board had none of). In the end I didn't place in the top three, but wasn't really fussed as the event is always used as a deadline rather than a competition for me - seems to be the only way I manage to finish stuff off! In true hobby style, I've already started working on the next army and will be posting an entry on that in the next few days as there's some really exciting stuff to start working on! If you've never done an Armies on Parade project before I'd defiantly recommend it -nothing better than seeing other people's work and chatting about little men.

Alaitoc Parade Part Two

I've not made as much progress during the past few weeks as a new role at work has meant that I've lost a few lunch hours sorting boring guff out. However, pretty much got my head around new things, so I'll hopefully get things back on track! The last couple of additions to the force have been a pleasure to paint and I'm really enjoying learning to play around with glazes. The difference that final thin wash makes on flattening and enriching colours is a technique I wish I'd picked up years ago. I imagine I'll be revisiting a lot of older models in the next few years and giving them some extra love! Anyway, here's what I've managed to push out since mid-August.

Cannot un-hear KLF right now.

So this isn't the first time I've painted this figure. This version of the Eldar Farseer happens to be one of my all-time favourite models. I think that's down to a combination of it's unavailability in the stores when I was a kid and that it's just a beautifully sculpted figure. (Jes, if you ever read this, I owe you a pint or several you wonderful Jesus and Mary Chain-loving goth you). The version on the left was painted in 2007 and I was proud of it at the time. However, it's rad to actually see some progression in painting skill as I've never noticed it much before. I could easily spend few days painting another one of these figures and not get bored. Think I've finally cracked red jewels too!

So proud of the freehand on this fella - massive confidence boost.

Really wanted to practice some freehand on this figure and took inspiration from the 90's output of Mcvey. I distinctly remember his wonderful spiral work that appeared on the famous 'Emperor vs Horus' diorama, as well as on figures such as Confessor Kryinov and Commissar Yarrick. I wussed out a little on going full-bore with it by making the swirls only slightly lighter than the backing colour, but I think the subtlety works well with Eldar textiles. Going to be doing a lot more of this in the future hopefully!

Konica, colours are calling me.

So yeah, feeling a lot more confident with colours these days. The only thing I'm not entirely sure worked on this figure is the yellow jewels on either side of the helmet. They've a nice fade on them, but as much as I thought it'd be nice to paint a jewel that wasn't blue, red or green, it does kind of look like a giant zit. Hmm. Space-puss.

DEATHPOD COMES FROM THE SKIES FLOATS AT THE BACK.

Ah, the wonder of the floating support platform. I've never painted one of the old Eldar missile pods and for the longest time assumed they were flat as they were always pictured side-on in the catalogue sections of White Dwarf. This was a really fun, quick thing to put together and paint. I'm quite fond of how chunky the weapon is too.

SHOOT IT UP! SHOOT IT UP!

So stoked to get Martin Degville in the army! Even in the grim darkness of the far future, war is better with ridiculous hair and Sigue Sigue Sputnik references. Seriously tempted to make an Eldar Corsair force based on the 'Flaunt-It' era band. It'd be amazing.

Oh fuck, I've just realised they look like Minions.

Saving the best for last, these two Ghost Warriors have been a real treat. These were phased out and unavailable by the time I'd got into Warhammer 40,000, but I remember being more into these models than the later Wraithguard that replaced them. Here they are with the still amazing 1989 Eldar Dreadnought. Both stoked and weirded out at how much they look like either Sonic the Hedgehog or Minions. Tempted to paint their feet red to reference the former!

Gotta go kill fast!

The most camouflaged assassin ever.

Out of the two, the bottom figure was the more satisfying to paint as I don't think the chain-fist / head-flamer combo was quite as well designed. However, they were both really good fun to work on and have a wonderful tabletop presence. Would love to make a little squad of these and have them count as Wraithguard or something.

So the last things I have to finish up are a squad of five Eldar Scouts and another War-Walker. I've also just managed to snag three of the original jet bikes without selling a kidney, so if I get a move on there's a chance that I'll have some classic aerial support too! However, I doubt that I've have time to finish them off to a standard I'd be happy with before October 24th, so might save them for the future.

Alaitoc Parade Part One

The past couple of weeks have bore witness to some actual work (who'd of thought it?) for the annual Armies on Parade competition entry at the local GW. I posted a fair while back about some of the inspiration behind the choice of army and I think I'm just about to hit the halfway stage with it. Sadly, I doubt that I'll be making a force-specific board to display these guys on as I can't justify the amount of space it could potentially take up, so will instead either mod one of the Realm of Battle tiles I already own or just lame-out and re-use the one pictured. I'm just hoping the manager isn't too bummed that I'm submitting ANOTHER old army. Anyhow, here's how things are looking so far,..

You can totally see Siobhan Fahey's naked back in this photo. Siobhan Fahey would well play Eldar.

Harlequin troupe shot with the Troupe Master leading - so stoked I finally got to paint this figure up! Kinda reminds me of Martin Degville from Sigue Sigue Sputnik!

More Jes Goodwin radness. Cannot fault these figures for design. Again, always lusted after these and felt a massive sense of accomplishment after finishing them. Really hyped on painting purple gems right now.

Alaitoc War Walker. Again, faultlessly designed model. The pilot has massive sideburns for a space elf!

Three of five Guardians. Love these photo Guardian / Avenger designs. The sculpt on the female armour in particular is really well realised.

Eldar Scouts. These were the models that really kicked off the idea of an Alaitoc force.  It's rad that the modern figures take so many design ideas from them.

Totally camouflaged. Ain't no one spotting us.

Feeling pretty pleased with the progress so far, especially now all the Harlequins are done. Painting up the Craftworld stuff is actually really nice and it's great to be working with such a vibrant palette. Still having issues with yellow though, it's satisfying to get right but can be such a ball-ache as it's such a thin pigment. The only thing I'm concerned about is the dominance of the blue on the larger models - undecided as to whether or not to take the plunge and freehand some bold Craftworld symbols to break it up. May leave that until the end of the project! So now all I have to paint up are the following,..

1 x Eldar Farseer (Pointy rad one)
2 x Eldar War drones (Never, ever thought I'd own, let alone get to paint these guys!)
5 x Eldar Scouts
1 x Eldar War-Walker
1 x Eldar Support Weapon

If I have the time, I've a squad of five of the original Howling Banshees and an Exarch, but I'm pretty sure that list alongside some other little bits I have on the go will keep me busy until October. I really wish I had a little more time and that was a faster painter as I've some of the amazing metal/plastic Guardian troops and would love to include them alongside the proto Guardians/Avengers.

Right, best start getting on with it!