Monday 25 April 2022

Adeptus Mechanicus Characters - The Omnissiah's Chosen

Looks like I haven't posted here in over a year. All of the usual excuses are to blame, real life etc etc.....I'll spare you the details. I've done a hell of a lot of hobbying in the past year though and I think it's about time some of that made its way on to the blog. First off I want to share a few kitbashed Adeptus Mechanicus characters I've added to the ever growing army.

A humble missionary, spreading the word of the Omnissiah.

I made this guy out of a bunch of different parts but the bulk of the model is based on the Blackstone fortress navigator. I added a head from a skitarii ranger as well as a few other Mechanicus parts. I think he fits the role of Tech Priest Daedalosus quite well but could possibly also be used as an Enginseer.

I'm really pleased with the scrollwork.

When the Skitarii Marshal was released I knew I had to try kitbashing my own version and I happened to have a couple of Necromunda Cawdor bodies hanging around for just that purpose.

Duellist style with double swords.

The first of these is heavily inspired by Muttork over on Instagram. As soon as I saw his incredible work I knew I wanted to have something like that in my collection.


I've been working on my blending and I'm pretty pleased with the swords on this guy. There's still a few points I'd like to improve, so I'll be sure to practice and paint some more power swords!

Another Cawdor sacrificed to the Machine God.

For the second Skitarii Marshal I pretty much just started with the Cawdor body and added Mechanicus parts until it looked right. I'm very pleased with this one too even if he lacks the wow factor of the sword wielder.


That's just a taste of the Adeptus Mechanicus models I've painted over the past year. Hopefully I'll get back to posting on the blog regularly and be able to show the rest of them off in the coming weeks.

Monday 22 March 2021

Monster March - Classic Ogres - Week 4

It's been a bit of a disjointed week on the painting front, so much so that I've sort of forgotten about these ogres I managed to finish off!

Fresh from their raid on the local brewery.

Don't panic, I haven't painted all of these within the week. In fact after last week's update, I only had the banner bearer left to paint. Of course I had to go to the trouble of making him a banner out of green stuff! I've been putting this unit together as part of a goblin army I'm making for Warhammer fantasy fifth edition and I'm pleased to report that this brings them up to the 1000 point mark.

You can see a couple of Golgfag's ogres lurking in the back.

The majority of the unit are models from the early 90's back in the herohammer days. I've supplemented these with three of Golgfag's ogres which were part of the regiment of renown released later on. I think they match pretty well but I must admit I prefer the older models. I've had these models hanging around unpainted for over twenty years, so it's quite delightful to have them all painted up.

Sorry the photos are all a bit samey.

So what's next for Monster March? Well, I have a Kings of War giant which I would love to include in this growing goblin army. However it's a huge model and I'm not sure I'll be able to get it done in time. Still, I'm determined to make the effort, tune in next time to see how far I get!

Monday 15 March 2021

Monster March - Golgfag's Ogres - Week 3

Monster March marches on and I have kept up the pace this week. Last time I pledged to paint some classic ogres to join my growing goblin army and I'm pleased to say I've finished two more.

Hideous? Or full of character?

I've had these models for decades and never painted them (or even fielded them) so it's been really nice to pick them up and get them finished off. Honestly I'd kind of written them off as ugly old sculpts that I would never want to paint, but they have proved to be incredibly enjoyable. These old metal hand sculpts have lots of nice details and respond really well to simple techniques like washes and drybrushing. I've enjoyed them so much that I've now painted seven of them!

The drummer is wandering off to the right for some reason.

Those of you who are long in the tooth (like me) may recognise these models as some of Golgfag's Ogres which were released as part of the fifth edition fantasy Dogs of War army. Honestly the only reason I have them is because my local store was doing a promotion at the time where they gave them away for free if you spent a certain amount. I guess they weren't selling well! 

I'm really enjoying Monster March this year; as always it's being superbly run by Swordmaster over at Path of an Outcast. Loads of people have joined the challenge and seeing the work they are producing is very motivating. Keep up the good work everyone!

Right, I've got another ugly old ogre to paint so I'll see you next time for more Monster March!

Monday 8 March 2021

Monster March - Warhammer Hydra - Week 2

We're back with another installment of Monster March. Last week I pledged to paint a hydra to join my old school goblin army and I've raced ahead with the painting. Behold the result below!

Somehow, it's finished.

Yep that's right, I went and got all excited and finished my pledge in the first week. It wasn't all plain sailing though and I'm still not one hundred percent sure about the finished model. If you like it, leave some positive reinforcement in the comments to stop me from repainting the damn thing!

As I said last time, I really wasn't sure which colours to use on this beastie. I knew I wanted to use green so that it tied in with the goblins. So I started with a Vallejo yellow-green basecoat, but that really didn't look right.

Yeah, I hate it.

After doing this basecoat on Wednesday night, I slept on it and then covered all the green areas with a layer of contrast terradon turquoise the next day. That made me feel a little better about things.

I chose the orange because a hydra strikes me as a semi-aquatic creature and I thought something like a fire bellied newt might look cool. Plus in Warhammer 5th edition they can breathe fire so I wanted something that would tie in with that. I basecoated it with Vallejo game air orange over a white undercoat which looked quite nice but was a bit wishy-washy.

Basecoats looking better.

So I painted on a sort of striped pattern with Citadel blazing orange which gave it a bit more life. It still needed some depth though, so I put on a coat of Reikland fleshshade. I tried doing the claws in purple but that looked dreadful as well, how frustrating! In the end, I settled on a nice neutral colour.

That's a lot of heads to paint.

By comparison, the shaman rider was very easy to paint. I already have an established scheme for my night goblins so I just used that. Even perched up there behind the head crest he wasn't too tricky.

The finished article.

Anyway, after what felt like a rather arduous week of painting I'm pleased to have it done. I like the final colour scheme, but I'm worried that it clashes horribly with the rest of the army! At the moment it's sitting in the cabinet next to the goblins and we'll see if I go nuts and try for a repaint.

Putting the hydra aside for a moment, I've somehow finished my Monster March pledge. Time to go for some stretch goals then! I've been working on a unit of old metal ogres as part of the goblin horde and I have a few more to paint, so it seems like a good time to break them out and see if I can finish them as well!

Here's two I made earlier.

I love these classic ogre models and it would be great to finish the unit. Come back next week to see how I'm getting on!

Monday 1 March 2021

Monster March - Warhammer Hydra - Week 1

Somehow it's time for Monster March again. That seemed to come around quickly!

For those who are unaware, Monster March is a community painting event hosted by Swordmaster over at Path of an Outcast. I have participated for the last four years and am very much looking forward to getting involved again this year with the hydra pictured below.

White undercoat for that old school look.

It's been quite a while since I updated the blog, but I felt like making the effort to support my favourite community painting event. Over the past couple of months I have been delving back into Warhammer Fantasy 5th edition and returning to my early wargaming roots. I've updated my ancient Dwarf army and begun building a horde of Night Goblins as well. The hydra which I will be painting for Monster March will form part of this force.

For anyone who doesn't remember the old orc and goblin rules from 5th edition fantasy (probably everyone?) they have a huge selection of monsters which can be ridden by various characters. I've chosen to add a hydra ridden by a Night Goblin shaman mostly because they're uncommon and I like the model.

The hydra itself is part of the Start Collecting: Anvilgard box set which I split with Blazmo over at Tabletop Apocalypse. He's working on a Dark Elf force, so it worked out nicely. For the shaman rider, I mostly used parts from the Night Goblin boss model along with a couple of chains from the Drukhari range.

So far, I've built the model along with the rider and primed it white. Next up is basing and then I'll start slapping on some basecoats. I'm not really sure what colour I want to paint it yet, so tune in next time to find out!

Friday 23 October 2020

Adeptus Titanicus - Legio Fureans Warbringer Nemesis Titan

It took me a little while to paint this one up but I'm back with another tiny titan for my Legio Fureans forces.

Serious firepower!

I really like the look of the Nemesis Warbringer, so it's a joy to have one (even a tiny one) in my Fureans maniple. As with my Warhounds, the arms are magnetised so I can change the weapon fit. I didn't bother to magnetise the quake cannon up top as it seems like a really solid option and the modelling looked fiddly. At the moment I've only painted the laser blaster and volcano cannon, but I intend to add a gatling blaster in the near future.

So much yellow paint.

It was pretty arduous laying down all that yellow by hand and then freehanding black flames over the top, but I'm very happy with the final result. I pushed myself by freehanding the Fureans logo on the left kneepad too.

Flame on!

I've stuck with aethermatic blue contrast paint for the weapon glow effects and I'm very pleased with the way it looks. The time investment is very low but the colour really pops, just what you need when you're starting to go yellow blind.

I can't wait to get her on the field, but the Legio Atarus will definitely need some reinforcements before trying to tangle with this beastie. I've made a start working on a Cerastus knight banner to oppose her and I hope to add a Reaver as well. That should even things up and make it interesting.

Fureans walks!

Tune in next time when I hope to have some Legio Atarus titans to show off as well as talking about some of the results of our early test games. We've had a couple so far and I have to say Titanicus is an excellent game!

Wednesday 7 October 2020

Adeptus Titanicus - Legio Atarus Warhound Titan

Following on from my last post I've painted up a Legio Atarus Warhound to oppose my Legio Fureans forces.

The first Legio Atarus titan walks!

At times this felt like a bit of a grind to paint because I don't find the colour scheme as exciting as the yellow and black of Fureans. However, now that it's done I'm very pleased with the finished product. I chose to arm this one with two twin turbolaser destructors (the best weapon name in the whole of 40k!) just so that the two Warhounds have different weapons. The weapons are magnetised in any case, so they can be swapped out between games.

Turbolasers! Zap zap.

As with my Legio Fureans titan I've used contrast paints for the eye lenses, weapons and the base. I'm really liking the easy effect of using these paints and definitely want to experiment with them more in future.

Engine War!

So, with one titan each for the traitors and loyalists it's time to get a couple of test games in! Come back next time for a quick rundown of my thoughts on the game and to find out the winner of the first little skirmish.