December Painting Competition

As the deadline for the next painting competition looms, I thought I'd share some very WIP photos of my Night Lords assault Sergeant whom I intend to enter.

Ave Dominus Nox!

This morning I had a stab (pun intended!) at painting the right lightning claw. I tried for a red to yellow fade and I'm pretty happy with the result. Hopefully it will really come together once the rest of the model is complete. Apologies for the bad lighting in the picture above, I was rushing out the door to get to work. Painting before work though - sometimes I amaze even myself! Anyway, the point is the lightning claw. Do you guys (gals?) like it? Any tips for improvement? By all means leave a comment below.

Also some random gold bits that I apparently splashed on.

I figure my only real chance at winning this painting competition is to go for some wow factor. A guy with big red claws and a skull faced helmet fits the bill for me! For those who don't know the deadline for the competition is the 9th December and will be held/judged at my FLGS. As usual I'm up against some stiff competition, in fact I'm anticipating more entries than ever before. As the competition is for a single miniature up to (approximately) Dreadnought size there's bound to be a lot of diversity in the field. Certainly people are talking about entering all kinds of weird and wonderful miniatures from a variety of different systems.

Lightning Claw!

MOAR Lightning Claw!!

I'll post some more photos as he progresses but probably not the finished article until after the competition. Don't want to give my competitors any more advantage than they've already got!

Betrayal at Calth

Bam!

Ok, so this isn't exactly breaking news, but I thought I'd write something about it anyway because GODAMMIT I'M JUST SO EXCITED!!! I've been out of the country for the last week or so and I missed all the breaking news; then I came back to see Betrayal at Calth splattered all over the rumour sites. 

I'm not exaggerating when I say I was on the phone to my local pusher immediately (ok, maybe pusher is a little harsh, perhaps dealer is more appropriate?!) I've simply got to have one of these, the miniatures would make splendid additions to my Night Lords and it would give me another GW board game to share with (infect) my local board games group.

Now much has been said about GW releasing one off, limited run type board games (although I'm hearing this won't be limited). I've read many complaints and disparaging comments about the quality of the games, the miniatures and the pricing of both. I for one, believe that the quality of GWs miniatures has gone from strength to strength in recent years. If you think that any manufacturer in the world can match the quality of GWs plastics for the same price point then I urge you to go and pick up a copy of Dark Vengeance. The detail and casting quality on those Chaos Chosen blows my mind every time I pick one up. Not only that but they're snap-fit models to boot! Anyway I digress.

The point is that I'm very excited to see the new Heresy plastics; I can only imagine that the quality will be sublime.

Moving on to the game itself, which it seems is playing second fiddle to the miniatures in the minds of most fans. Judging from my past experiences of GW board games I can say that I'm looking forward to this side of Betrayal at Calth as well. I am fortunate enough to own both the latest release of Space Hulk and Execution Force and I can say that I've enjoyed both games thoroughly. They both work well with two players but can be easily adapted to accomodate teams of players on both sides (IMHO the best way to play Space Hulk).

Now speaking of pricing, we all know it's going to be £95 (here in the UK). That's a lot of money, it really is. But is it good value? Many people have compared price points with the Heresy range from Forge World. Obviously it works out cheaper if you look at it this way (though estimates of exactly how much seem to vary wildly). For me, it was a no-brainer. The miniatures fit nicely with one of my fledgling armies and the fact that I can customise them with legion specific shoulder pads and trophies etc means that it will be easy to make them unique. Essentially, for anyone looking to start playing battles in the Age of Darkness, Betrayal at Calth should be an obvious starting point.

Whilst I'm on a bit of a pro-GW rant. Lets talk about the modern iteration of 40k, with a particular nod to rules writing and in-game balance. If you float around these here internets (like I do) then you're bound to have come across a swathe of comments, articles and general whining about game imbalance, codex creep and generally stuff just being OP or UP etc. Now I'm the first to admit that the game isn't balanced; I'll even go so far as to say that GW intentionally uses this imbalance to sell shiny new models. But I ask the question, has the balance of the game improved or worsened over the years? The overwhelming answer has to be yes, massively. I've played most editions of 40k (I missed Rogue Trader and 3rd Edition) including a lot of 2nd Ed (which I still play regularly.) Comparing the 2nd edition rules with 7th shows a clear improvement in terms of rules clarity, cross-codex balance and points values. Don't believe me? Dig out your old 2nd Ed stuff and get a couple of games under your belt without wearing your rose tinted specs. I guarantee you'll agree before the end of turn 2.

Alright, rant over, the message is this. Yay GW! Please keep making and improving shiny toys that I want to buy!

Painting Blood Rage

I'm guessing you've heard of Blood Rage the new(ish) board game published by CMoN. If not, you probably expected this post to be about some sort of painting equivalent of road rage brought on (most likely) by an excess of grey plastic (or metal if you're one of those guys) and an inability to get those fine highlights looking just right.

Says it all really.

At any rate, it's a beautiful looking set of miniatures (vikings and creatures of mythology) which spend their time massacring one another over an equally beautiful board. Sadly, I don't own a copy of this game. Even more sadly, I haven't had a chance to play it yet.

Fortunately, my good buddy Dave has got himself a copy along with a bunch of other goodies from the kickstarter. A few weeks back I was salivating over the miniatures and he kindly offered to let me paint one of them. After the initial shock of being entrusted with someone else's precious miniature. Followed by the initial outrage of only being offered one of them. I was delighted! After some discussion, I chose/was given the sea serpent. You can see the final results of my finished work below.

Rawwwrrrrr!!

Bursting up from the depths of my kitchen table.

I went for a fairly muted palette that involved various hues of (Citadel) Rakarth Flesh. Painting the water gave me some pause, in the end I went with my gut - painting it blue, washing down with Drakenhof Nightshade and highlighting up through turquoise and into white. After a goodly application of gloss varnish the result is quite pleasing.

Check out the detail, not bad for a board game!

Teeth!

I also used this as an excuse to experiment with some opalescent medium that I've had kicking around for a while. I mixed it with a purple glaze and used it on the weird tendril like things coming out of his head. The photos don't really show it, but the colour changing effect is quite nice. I hope to find an excuse to use it more often in the near future. Other than that, the paint scheme was quite straightforward; mostly a basecoat, wash down, highlight up sort of affair. Hopefully Dave will like it when I eventually get it back to him and perhaps he'll entrust me with more of his minis in the future (hint hint.)

Same teeth, different angle.

Oh, and on an unrelated note, I did finish my Dreadtober Carnifex before the end of October (honestly, I really did!) I'll put some pics up in the next couple of days.

Age of Sigmar and a Shameless Plug

In the midst of all this Dreadtober madness, I thought I'd share a few photos of another project I've been working on. I want to clarify this by saying that these miniatures are at best a collaborative project and at worst just photos of wonderful things created by someone else. Regardless, behold!

The mighty Lord in all his glory - or should that be gory?

Now, I can't take any credit for the paint job on the Mighty Lord, it's all the work of a far more talented hand than mine (Berserkerbro). But I painstakingly built and assembled the model before handing it over, so I feel justified in posting pictures and claiming all the credit. I had slightly more to do with the grim faced fellows below.

My love for you is like a truck, BER SER KER!

My love for you is ticking clock, BER SER KER!

Not only were these guys lovingly crafted by my bare hands, I also applied the Khorne Red basecoat. I know, my skills are amazing.

So, the question on everybody's lips is. Why on Earth are you suddenly messing about with all this Age of Sigmar stuff in the middle of Dreadtober? Sit back, relax and I'll tell you.

It all started when Age of Sigmar was first rumoured to be around the corner. I had a few discussions with Berserkerbro about possibly painting the minis for our FLGS. So I had a chat with Keith (proprietor of said FLGS) and he hummed and hawwed and even sashayed a little and then eventually said yes. 

Marquee Models delivers exceptional customer service - mostly due to the cloning vats.

So, if you're in the area, and you fancy seeing some of the minis in the flesh then come on down. If you ask really nicely, Keith will probably let you play a game with them into the bargain!

Dreadtober - Progress update #2

Shockingly, I've actually managed to make some progress with the Dreadtober/Carnifex painting challenge. Trust me, I'm more surprised than you.

I think the paint was still wet when I took this.

As you can see, most of the chitinous areas are now complete along with the fleshy parts. All that's left is to fill in some detail (ie apply moot green with wallpaper brush) and finish off the base. This is definitely a good thing as I'm going abroad for the last week of October so I only have this week to finish him off. Wish me luck! More photos below.

Zoomed out so you can see some other random objects. You're welcome.

Rear shot so you can admire the junk in the trunk!

Moar photos!

From the top ie General's eye view.

Dreadtober - Progress update #1

A Carnifex?! For Dreadtober?!! Madness you say?!!! Well, get over it, it's happening so you'll just have to deal.

Ugh, that looks hideous!

As you can see, it's part way through painting. By the end of the month it will join my tie-dyed horde of alien gribblies. The colour scheme for my Tyranids is very basic because it was conceived when my interest in 40k was rekindled back in 4th edition. Essentially the fleshy parts are painted with an 80/20 mix of Evil Sunz Scarlet/Abbadon Black and the base is painted in Dawnstone. All of these areas are then washed with Nuln Oil. Once that's done the chitinous parts are painted with White Scar and then heavily washed with a 60/40 mix of White Scar/Altdorf Blue. The final details are picked out with Moot Green and Pink Horror and a goodly dash of Ardcoat is applied as necessary. The last step is to drybrush the base with White Scar.

Given that there is no highlighting, glazing, metalwork (non-metallic or otherwise) etc. it's not really surprising that I can turn these things around pretty quickly (now watch me miss the deadline!) I'm sure my fellow Tyranid players will agree that when you're playing a horde army, the simpler the paint scheme the better!  

What do you mean the photos are identical?!

As you can see, I've completed the basecoat on the skin and base, washed it down and made a small start in applying the white layer. As with most of my Tyranids, there's a bit of construction history to this guy. He's one of my ebay salvages; basically I went a bit nuts and bought three Carnifexes I didn't need along with nine Tyranid Warriors, a bunch of gaunts and spore mines and a Red Terror. Those who were aware of the size of my existing Tyranid collection simply shook their heads woefully. I think I'm about five genestealers away from an intervention.

Anyway, like most cheap things from ebay they'd had a hard life. Badly constructed with polystyrene cement, shellacked with layer upon layer of paint and displaying some impressive battle damage. Nonetheless, I take a perverse joy in resurrecting these poor miniatures and adding them to my armies in new and glorious forms. This particular model was stripped using Fairy Power Spray before removing the head and limbs. Once this was done I used a new head from my bitz box along with some new claws and re-posed the torso joint so that the model is rearing up instead of staring at the ground.

There's bound to be a few experienced players out there rolling their eyes and wondering why I would bother to put so much effort into building a Screamer-Killer style Carnifex. The simple answer is that I think they're awesome; are they the most effective build on the tabletop? No, not by a long shot, but it's a classic build that takes me back to the misty eyed days of second edition (when they were toughness 8 and had 10 wounds...).

More updates to come soon.

Dreadtober, Tervigon and other random things

In random painting news, I've finally finished painting my Tervigon. This is particularly significant, as it was a Birthday present from my darling wife, so I have to show that I appreciate it rather than just letting it join the forlorn pile of half finished, unpainted junk gradually accumulating beneath the bed. Here's a blurry camera-phone shot of the finished article for your amusement.

Thankfully the blur hides the painting flaws.

Now, many things have been said about my Tyranid colour scheme. They've been called garish; been described as hippies; and once even compared to Aston-Villa fans! Well to those people I say, screw you! This is how Tyranids look in my imagination! The terrible horrors from beyond our galaxy would surely be festooned with tie-dye! Ahem...

Moving swiftly on; I have come across a certain painting event known as Dreadtober. The gist of this is that the participants must build and paint a Dreadnought before the end of October. Sadly, I don't have a Dreadnought to hand, but I do have four spare Carnifexes! Using the old, Space-Crusade definition of a Dreadnought, I'm sure a Carnifex could be squeezed into this category (despite Greg's protestations). So, before the end of the month, I will produce at least one fully painted (tie-dyed) Carnifex. Updates and complaints about lack of progress to follow.