Hobby Block - To Be Continued

I’ve been in a funny old mood recently and I’m finding that it really takes a lot for me to get around to painting anything - I can think of about half a dozen different reasons for this, so it’s not too worrying or anything, but I must start to take steps to rectify it and find my love for painting little figures again soon!

I’m going to continue with these ponderings in a future post, but in the meantime here’s my most recent projects, including one I’m working on for the “rescue” challenge set by my mate Lewis (his blog will be in the side bar and I’ll link this later!). The idea is simple, find a mini that needs rescuing - strip the paint, rebuild it, hit it with the hairy brush and pigment! I started off overly ambitious, with the thought of doing the batch of minis I’ve most recently stripped - a little group of Mordian Iron Guard which will round out my collection to approximately a command squad and infantry squad. I’d suggested that I could potentially get them all done in the month, but then things got in the way:

1. I can’t find the 12 other Mordians I have.
2. I can’t find the Epic-scale Land Raiders I’d planned on using as the basis for a tracked support weapon for the Lascannon for the Command Squad (one of the ones from Lewis is the Lascannon operator, who had a separate Lascannon on wheels like a field gun, with his little button to fire the pewpew.
3. Work has been busy (and I’ve been getting some other cool real-life stuff sorted out too!)

So, what to do? Mere days before the deadline!

There were a few other Necromunda minis that Lewis sent along too, donated by our friend Fraser. One of them got a mild conversion in order to join my Necromunda Slave Guilders - a bunch of gladiator-types and slave catchers (just the worst bunch of ingrates you’ve ever seen!). I dremeled away some of the old Goliath badges (which looked a bit Orky!) and severed his head - I repositioned this into a slightly more sensible pose (for a man with a chainsaw-mohawk…) and did some patching up with putty. I then decided that as he wasn’t really leader material (in my eyes) and he’d most likely just be a champion or what have you, I removed the barrel of the melta gun and replaced it with one from the Orlock upgrade sprue that matched in with some careful carving!

I started the rest of my gang with a metallic undercoat, so I went the same route with this guy - he’s now looked like this for a week, will I make the end-of-month deadline? Hell yeah!

Other stuff:

Megadroth Skeleton - a great kit from GW, I’ve always been a fan of the “omg that’s a huge skeleton!” terrain that we’ve seen in the 40K terrain collection (thinking of Space Wolves 3rd edition Codex, with terrain of some big Fenrisian beast’s skeletal remains!) and it’s nice to be able to buy one! Really nicely designed set without a lot of extra embellishment. I did do some slight changes though - I clipped away or dremeled off all the skulls and bones on the bases. 

- I filled any leftover holes with old greenstuff.

- Added gravel and sand to the areas that needed it with PVA. 

- When this was almost dry I took some PVA, watered it down and added a splash of washing-up liquid, thinly coated the parts I’d added gravel to. This step was to stop the gravel peeling away (I’ve had this happen on other terrain).

The reason for removing the skulls and bones isn’t because they weren’t nice and thematic, it’s just it would have directly tied it to the 28mm/32mm scale, but I wanted to keep it neutral and thus be able to use it at 6mm/10mm/15mm/28mm etc. (I know it’s themed around being in Ghur in the Mortal Realms, so the extra bones make sense there!).

Finally, I’ve also put together this squad of Necromunda Ironhead Prospector Squats. I’m currently pondering a scheme for them, but I’m thinking black/grey/yellowish-green like the Ryobi power tools. Call them the Riobi Consortium or something? They’ll likely be rather inep

Let me know what you think :) 

Warhammer 40k - Imperial Missionary

It's difficult to express just how much I love this figure (and the rest of the Preachers and Missionaries) - the sculpting and detail is absolutely fantastic. This is one I managed to get at a reasonable price from eBay and painted him up, unconnected to any other current project - I figure that he might work well in an Imperial Guard force, or bringing the word of the Emperor to some heathens in a shantytown. 

The paint scheme was inspired by the Ayatanis from the Gaunt's Ghosts series - I'm not entirely sure now whether they actually wore green robes, or whether that was what they wore when I pictured them in my head...

Anyway, the figure was painted to look like he'd been operating on his own for a while, without much time to service his weaponry - I imagine him as a roving missionary travelling from ash waste settlement to hive sump and so on.

Thanks for reading - comments and questions are most welcome!

Jackal-Pack - Updated

As part of a relatively recent rebasing crusade I decided to revisit these miniatures from the Black Hat Miniatures Cobalt-1 range. I originally based these on 25mm slotta bases, but I decided that they would suit 30mm bases instead, due to their loping gait. It also gave me a chance to weight their bases (with 2p coins) and I also revisited the paint jobs, updating a few bits here and there and adding rust.
If you're unfamiliar with the range and interested in Rogue Trader-era Warhammer 40k, have a look at the range - lots of interesting miniatures and sculpted by Bob Naismith, so they have that Oldhammer feel!
I intend to use these in some RT-style skirmish games at some point. Thanks for looking - comments are most welcome!

2013 Round-Up (just 19 days late...)

Hi guys - I've been meaning to write this post for a couple of weeks now but I have only just gotten around to it! A quick recap of what I got upto in 2013 and my next post will cover my current projects and my plans going forward...

The most important part of 2013 (with regards to my blog) is that GAMES ARE BEING PLAYED! It's difficult to underestimate how good this is - I've been "back in the hobby" for 5 or so years now, but even before my break in wargaming, I rarely played (once or less a year, despite having multiple armies!). In the latter half of 2013 I played multiple games of Flying Lead and Songs of Blades and Heroes - I've been planning out games and settings for years and it was a great feeling to see my painted miniatures and terrain on the table! I even got a couple of my non-wargaming friends to start playing (my housemate and another of my best friends) and, most importantly, they kept asking for more battles!

I've actually gotten a really decent amount of figures completed this year for various different projects and I got stuck into my zomb-apoc stuff during October with Zomtober 2013 - here are a few examples of things completed this year:

Michonne and her two "camoflage" zombies - I'm very fond of her paintjob - she was a gift to myself when I'd finished half of my Studio Miniatures plastic zombie horde! Painted as part of Zomtober 2013

Chosen Space Marines of The Desolation - In The Emperor's Name

Goblins from The Hobbit - this was a lovely plastic kit! Lots of variety too. They're to be used as devolved humans in Necromunda/Space Hulk/post-apoc

Some Private Military Contractors from Empress Miniatures (sold as SAS, mine have a couple of headswaps) - these are for zomb-apoc

Wasteland Sniper - this guy is intended as a scout/herald for a new (Caesar's Legion-inspired) faction in my post-apoc. Warmachine/Hordes

Misc Studio Miniatures plastic zombies - I did enjoy painting the ones in the prison jumpsuits and the Drive-inspired one in the front! Painted as part of Zomtober 2013

A biker survivor (em4 Miniatures) and misc feral ghouls (Mantic Games plastic zombies). Painted as part of Zomtober 2013

Missing from the round-up are various different figures, an orc and goblin warband (Celtos miniatures, for my fantasy skirmish setting), 19 pirate scum (40k Chaos Cultists), 30 or so plaguebearers (plastics and kitbashes!), more zombies... A good painting year in general!

The Underfolk

I love these figures! They're the plastic Goblins from Games Workshop's "The Hobbit" miniatures game. I liked them in the film - the variety in the unwashed, debased, inbred hordes was nice, as was the pale flesh like the cave creatures that dwell in unlit caverns. I decided to pick some up when I found them cheap enough - I believe these were £8.99 inc postage on eBay. 

I have a few different plans on how to use these, so I've kept their basing nice and neutral (although I did try something new - swamp or sewer bases!) so they can fit any number of roles, but I mainly have them in mind for either the Necromundan underhive (from the very bottom of the sump, hence "Underfolk") or for a project I've started jotting ideas down for - a skirmish campaign game set in a huge space station or Space Hulk - these would be devolved mutant humans - smaller to fit through the sewer/bilge systems, poor eyesight but better hearing, hence the larger ears. 

These really are great plastics - they took barely any cleaning up and the main work was cutting off their base tabs - I prefer to have as many figures as possible on the hollow-bottom plastic bases weighted with pennies. Adds a nice amount of heft to plastics! 

With the basing I only added the finer sand I use (no gravel), painted the figures and bases as normal, hit the bases with a dark wash and then a few layers of satin varnish (in this case it was actually furniture/wood varnish - Wilkos brand clear satin - I have a tin left over from a DIY project - I'll definitely be using this to work on some swamp terrain!). I added various washes of green, blue, reddy-brown etc. over the varnish, then added varnish again. I also added a few tufts of grass or the odd leaf here and there - these were also varnished to look semi-submerged.

These were a lovely easy painting job and definitely suit my style! I particularly enjoyed painting their sore, weeping eyes, the blood and grime and rust. My favourite kind of painting!

I'll be adding a round-up post for Zombtober shortly! These are somewhat a continuation as they'll be filling a similar role in the various games they'll be seeing use in! Thanks for reading - feel free to comment!

Piratical Scum

When Dark Vengeance hit the shelves I immediately invested in the Cultists from an eBay reseller - After pondering various uses for them, I finally decided that they would best suit the role as "generic 40k scum". The plan was to make them look a little less rag-tag (removing completely makeshift weaponry - the barbed wire-wrapped maces, the morning star-esque weapons and replacing them with swords and axes) and a little less Chaotic (replacing certain heads with too many lenses, removing the little cult symbols and brands). Above is how they look right now...

My favourite is the leader of the band of merry savages - I wanted to be able to use them as pirates playing on the Space Hulk tiles, or a marauding band of thieves on an Imperial planet. I've filled in the Chaotic symbols on the armour plates and replaced the sword blade. I kept the guard on the weapon and used an axe from an old Commissar. I also gave him a flintlock pistol to fit the piratical scheme and my favourite part - the bearded head from the Space Wolf sprue, originally meant for a Scout. It fit my vision for the miniature perfectly!

Finally, the flamer trooper - I wanted to put up another picture of this guy as the camera washed out all the detail on the head. Seemed to fit the miniature perfectly - I love the gloves on this miniature!

I'm pretty close to being able to base the squad and crack open the undercoat - I have a few more weapons to replace and a few heads to put together - I'm thinking more of the Thunder Warrior-esque helmet you can see above. I've always liked the classic design and I figure that it's quite different for this squad of marauders - I reckon they'd love to think of themselves as "as tough as the Thunder Warriors of legend!" - they might even call themselves that!

For those not familiar with the Thunder Warriors or Thunder pattern armour, see above - they were the proto-Space Marines, the first ones created by the Emperor to unite Terra before he created the Primarchs and Space Marine Legions. I've wanted to put the conversion together for a while but never had much reason - I finally found one!

Comments are most welcome - I should have a chance to work on these early in the new year!

Necromundan Pit-Slave

My first conversion from the brilliant Chaos Cultists in the Dark Vengeance box - a Pit-Slave with shears.

I love these figures! This one is probably one of the most "Chaosy" out of the bunch of them. With an arm swap and some judicious shaving (there was a little cult symbol and some scarring on his chest to remove) it was easy to create a whole new character. I've been painting him up tonight - the little lumps on his back will be scarring from previous stimm-shunts to keep him up and working. Pictures of the finished model will be shown relatively soon! The cultists pretty much paint themselves!

Wasteland Town - Shack 4

The last of the shanty buildings - this one uses one part of the recycled cardboard packaging that you can see on this entry on Terrain From Junk (the other blog I write for) as well as one of the camper vans reclaimed in this article.

I added various parts, including plastic tubing, plasticard scraps and corrugated card and turned the remains of the camper into an extension of the building.

The side of the building, with waste pipe - I should really add some sort of gunk to it...

I plan on adding a bunch of posters to these pieces. Posters for wasteland circuses, propaganda, wanted posters etc. - I think they'll add a lot to the lived-in feel and really dress up some of the more boring sides...

Wasteland Town - Shack 3

I've shown this shanty previously - it's a refuelling station for the most common sort of vehicles and machinery in my post-apocalyptic world.

The last pictures didn't show the sign, or the various little bits of graffiti covering the building.

Water tanks at the side, as well as some fuel drums.

Ladders round the back, leading upto the roof of the shack...

The "chill-out area" hidden behind the shanty sign. Beers, socialist propaganda and a pack of smokes!

The building has been patched together with all sorts of junk - I love these roadsigns I got in a kids playset!

Wasteland Town - Shack 2

Another of the recently finished shanty buildings - this one is based around an abandoned/damaged armoured personnel carrier that has been converted into an extension for the dwelling...

I'd been given a busted up Rhino from a forum friend a while back - he'd done quite a bit on the Rhino, rebuilding the sides with cardboard (he'd bought it very cheap second hand, minus the sides and tracks...) and I finished it off by adding various bits. I'd decided straight away that I wanted to use it for terrain rather than in my Space Marine army.

I combined the Rhino with some packing cardboard, adding some props from foamboard, various other gubbins and a door from corrugated card and coffee stirrers...

The chimney stacks on the roof are plastic tubing and rectangles of scrap plasticard and the window is another side sponson hatch from a Predator kit.

Pretty happy with this one! Lets hope the Marines don't come and ask for it back...

Wasteland Town - Shack 1

 

I finished the last few shanty buildings the other night - this was the first that I built and remains my favourite.

It's a foamboard shell covered in various textures of card (mainly corrugated) with some fairly solid packing card for the roof. The front door is from the GW Cities of Death kit (cut down yet still massive!) and the dilapidated couch out front is from Black Cat Bases. I-beam has been used in various points around the building as supports.

The rear shows a ladder to the roof (a Hexplatformer piece) and a roadsign (from a kids construction set I picked up for the vehicle). 

Odds and ends from various sources have been used - the window on the side is from a Rhino kit, there is a random toy robotic claw and a claw from a "Kryptonite Capture" (or something along those lines) Superman toy covered in chained down tarps. The theme behind the shack was that it was home to a robotics engineer.

There's another roadsign on the other side, plus a component from a Leman Russ kit.


I've also taken some better pictures of the two shanties I completed earlier - I'll post about them in the near future.

Thug Life.

Ganger and hired scum hanging around the entrance of a wasteland shack...


I've recently finished off the painting-in-progress shanty terrain I had been working on and managed to take some quite nice photos - these will be appearing over the next few days, with some battle reports planned at some point!

Painting In Progress

I'm on the third day of my 3-days-off - I managed to get a little bit of basecoating done (as well as watching The Avengers with amazing nachos yesterday!) - these are 6 Ar-Men and an Aruk (from the Cobalt-5 from Black Hat Miniatures), a pair of cowboys (more an in-game objective for the post-apoc stuff) and the mummy. I touched up the sprayed basecoat (the not-Khemri Brown from Humbrol) and blocked out the weapons/armour plates/kit. I love the Cobalt-5 figures - sculpted a few years ago by Bob Naismith, they have a massively Rogue Trader/early 40k feel. I'll be using them as hired mercenaries in the post-apoc sci-fi setting.

I also assembled this Thrullg from Hordes - I'll be using it as a random event or beast hunt in the post-apoc. It could also be handy as a beast for post-apoc or fantasy gladiators to take on, or as a Clawed Fiend in my Dark Eldar. Loved the figure - the bony spine in particular! I've been considering purchasing Red Sand, Black Moon from THW - this would make for a vicious challenge!

Wasteland Convict PIP

Undercoated and basecoated...