Pit of the Oni

Slow & Steady

2011-12-14T21:50:00.001-05:00

OK… Where to start? Firstly I’m only 9 and 3/8 dead (inside). Otherwise the story of my life has become; work, eat, work. There should be a ‘sleep’ in there somewhere, but there’s not, just like there’s no ‘hobby’. I have however bewilderingly managed to finish reading Battle of the Fang by Chris Wraight. Really good book, highly recommend it. FYI – Bjorn has major daddy issues and Magnus the Red is a dick. Also, I picked up The Gildar Rift and have already gotten through the first chapter. It’s piqued my interest, I hope it’s able to keep it.

Onto other hobby related topics. I’ve slowly plugged along on the terminators. Five minutes here ten there whenever I can and thusly have managed to get a little further.

I’ve taken a new approach to painting whites. Rather then build up layer upon layer gradually getting lighter and lighter, I now paint on a basecoat, shade just the recesses with a self made wash and then highlight it. This is by no means new or revolutionary, but I’ve found that it works much better then the traditional way of endless layering.

I’ve also tried a new color scheme for the Purity Seal streamers and decretive tabards. With most all of my Space Marines I’ve stuck to the traditional scheme laid out by Games Workshop of Bronzed Flesh, layer Bleached Bone, highlight Skull White, but recently I’ve taken to the dirtier look and wanted to give it a try. I guess this unit has been an experiment of sorts to establish the overall manner in which I’ll paint the army so it’s scheme is cohesive.

How To

Purity Seals & Tabards

Basecoat the seal with Scab Red and the streamer with Khemri Borwn
Layer the seal with Blood Red leaving the base color showing in the recesses, layer the streamer with Kommando Khaki.
Highlight the seal with a 1:1 mix Blood Red to Bleached Bone. The streamer was then layered with pure Bleached Bone.
Lastly, highlight the streamer with Skull White.

Aquila & Helmet

Basecoat with Astronomican Grey.
Create a 2:1:1 mix of water, Liquitex Flow Aid and Shadow Grey respectively and wash directly into the recesses.
Layer on a 1:1 mix of Skull White and Astronomican Grey.
Highlight with pure Skull White.

Crux Terminatus

This is done in the exact same manner as the Aquila and helmet, but instead of Shadow Grey use Codex Grey.

I guess that’s it for the moment. Have faith… I will complete this army before the apocalypse arrives. This is my word, this is my promise. Cheers!

Plain To Extraordinary

2011-10-03T22:43:00.001-04:00

While working on my Ultramarines Terminator squad I felt the models (Assault on Black Reach) where a little too plain compared to my more ornate Assault Terminator squad with Forge World shoulder pauldrons. What’s a hobbyist to do? Rummage through the bitz bin of course.

Since I didn’t need to dress up the Assault Terminators I was left with a plethora of gubbins to use on the standard Terminator squad, plus I got a hold of an assault cannon and a chain fist to help fill out their armament.

In the above picture I’m using a new formula for the paint scheme as well as the zenithal highlighting technique now that I own an airbrush. I’m still employing edge highlighting, but the combination the two I think produce an incredible look. The new method is a lot quicker than what I originally started with and should (I hope) allow me to make quicker progress on the project. Hobby time is precious & rare these days.

Basecoat Mordian Blue
Wash with a 1:1 mix Azurman Blue, Badab Black
Zenithal highlight with Ultramarines Blue
Edge highlight with Ultramarines Blue
On the most pronounced features, edge highlight with a 1:1 mix Ultramarines Blue, Space Wolves Grey.

On another note, Pit of the Oni has joined a new blog network. A fellow blogger and one hell of a painter (Stahly formally of Stahly’s Paint Station) decided to form a small team of exceptional painters and create a new blog as well as a new blog network…

Keep an eye on this one, I have a good feeling about it. Thanks for stopping by. Cheers!

Ultramarines: Tanks Basecoat Finished

2011-09-11T22:33:00.001-04:00

I managed to pull myself away from my PS3 long enough to finish airbrushing my Ultramarines tanks and make this blog post, but it’s going to be a short one because time spent blogging is time spent not playing Space Marine.

Unfortunately I don’t have a ton of useful information to offer with this post. It’s really more of an update on my progress, but what I have learned thus far in my airbrushing experience is:

Learning distance vs. trigger pull (amount of paint allowed to flow) is key.
Just like using a bristle brush multiple thin coats is still better than one heavy/thick coat.
Moisture traps are a necessity. When the compressor starts to get hot their will be condensation that accumulates in the air hose. If not dealt with it will create splatter spots on the model.
Citadel Foundation paints will clog your airbrush if not thinned properly with Liquitex airbrush medium (or other quick-dry medium) and warrant a little extra effort to clean up the airbrush after using them.
The fluid nozzle does not need to be removed and cleaned after every use.
The airbrush needle is a lot more rugged than what I was initially lead to believe. This may be solely the design of the Grex needle as I have nothing to compare it to.

An airbrush is an amazing tool and I regret not buying one sooner. Next in line are the infantry squads, two tactical squads and a terminator assault squad. I’d like to note that tanks, especially the Land Raider look infinitely cooler with the Forge World extra armour kit.

On another note I keep making headway on the Fortress of Redemption (FoR). I’m not sure I’ve ever mentioned that I’m working on this before now. The FoR is a superb kit and to say it’s big is an understatement. This kit is massive. I bought the kit on its release day and have struggled painting it from day one because of its size, but never the less I chip away at it little by little when I can. The tower section has undergone three paint jobs before I could get the angel to look how I wanted it and while it’s still not finished I have the foundation correct for where I want to take it. Tonight I started the floor sections using the MIG Vietnam Earth weathering pigment.

I’m taking leaps into all kinds of unknown hobby techniques… airbrushing, weathering pigments. Where will it end? So far I’m not enjoying weathering pigments. They’re incredibly messy and get on absolutely everything. The amount of time I’ll need to invest in touchups makes me weary to use them often if at all.

So this post ended up being longer than anticipated, but that’s OK, its not like Space Marine has an expiration date on it. Which reminds me, my milk does expire today so I need to go make a giant glass of chocolate milk. I’m off to do just that… Thanks for dropping by and reading. Cheers!

A Brief Detour

2011-08-23T22:12:00.007-04:00

Hello everyone! Been a while since I posted on Pit, and thought I would throw some pics of Malifaux up. Still have yet to actually play though.....

First up is a Punk Zombie and a Rotten Belle. The zombie was really just messing around with some paint triads from Reaper Master series. I got to say, finally stepping away from the GW brand was a pleasant surprise. The Belle was an experiment in washes other than Devlan Mud. I was trying to go for a bruised look...not sure if it came out right, but oh well. Looks good enough for me.

The next pic is two more Punk Zombies. Again, messing around with the Reaper paints, trying different ways of doing the swords.

The next mini is Sebastian, Dr. McMorning's faithful assistant. I'm actually proud of this little oddball. I got everything the way I wanted it to look, especially the blood splats.

Next up is the good Dr. McMorning himself. I really wanted to got overboard on the blood for this guy. The one thing I really like about the mini is the shoes. Steel plates scream curb stomp, so I made sure to give a bit of bloody attention on the right foot.

And lastly, my favorite model of the line. The Dark Pimp! The Mad Hatter! Seamus! Some of you may remember I painted another Seamus up a while ago, using earthy tones, and some stripes. This time, I just wanted to try red. Yeah, I'm liking the Reaper red triad to say the least!

That's all I got right now. Still working on the Death Guard. Picked up some FW pieces that I will hopefully paint up soon. Maybe some Oblits on the way.

Hope you enjoyed the minis! Comments/questions welcome as always!

Grendel

Down The Airbrushing Rabbit Hole

2011-08-09T22:13:00.001-04:00

Last night was my first true leap into the airbrushing rabbit hole as I sprayed an actual model. ‘Oni, in your last post you said you made progress airbrushing terrain, what gives?’ Well, that’s terrain and in my book it doesn’t count because you can fudge it up and it’ll still look nice. Write that down in your notebooks faithful blog readers… Always practice on terrain first. Anyway, here is my Ultramarines Vindicator in a stylish Mordian Blue motif.

Not only is this infinitely better than using a standard bristle brush, I found that using the airbrush made it incredibly easy to create natural shadows by simply angling the airbrush and spraying across the model at about a 45 degree angle instead of directly onto it. After just this one use it became apparent why so many love and can’t live without their airbrush.

Let me start this last segment covering the topic of thinning the paints in an airbrush. Citadel paints absolutely have to be thinned as the paint needs to pass through a fluid nozzle with an orifice literally the size of a pin head. Water alone will not work. Why? Because the paint should dry within micro seconds of hitting the surface. If the paint mixture is watery it will pool up and run. Some people will tell you to use Windex (Yes, the blue stuff used to clean windows.) as it has a quick dry agent in with the overall chemical mix. I tried this and they’re right, it does work. The problem however is that Windex contains ammonium hydroxide. This can cause premature wear on the elastomer seals inside the airbrush. So I do not recommend using Windex. In fact the instruction manual strictly forbids the use of any ammonia containing products in the airbrush. Here’s your solution for thinning the paint…

Liquitex Airbrush Medium. This stuff works like magic. It’s worth noting that much more is needed when using the Citadel Foundation paints… A lot more. The foundation paints are thick and will clog up the airbrushes fluid nozzle quickly if not properly thinned. As to how much the paint should be thinned; I’m still learning that to be honest.

That’s all for now, I’m off to spray another tank. I’m thinking the Predator is next. Thanks for dropping by. Cheers!

Airbrushing–The New Hotness II

2011-08-08T20:34:00.001-04:00

OK, I’ve had plenty of time to test out my new airbrush setup, hell it’s been three weeks since my last post, I should be an expert by now right? No, far from it. The learning curve on this thing is pretty steep. Anyway… My initial thoughts. The airbrush is really nice. The trigger has a nice smooth feel to it, the needle adjustment at the rear works like clockwork and it sprays pretty well; granted I don’t have anything to compare it to. The teardown and reassembly is much like every other airbrush. So what does the Grex Genesis XG have to offer over others? Hell if I know, but the color sure is cool. Seriously though, the price is decent and the quality is apparent, two things that make the purchase worth while for me.

So what about the compressor? Well, all started out just fine and I was excitedly learning to use my new airbrush when after about 30 minutes… It died. I thought it had overheated as it was very hot to the touch. So I let it set for a day and came back, but the issue still persisted. Thankfully BLICK (where I bought it) has some superbly awesome customer service. After explaining my issue they had a new one sent out the following day and I didn’t have to pay shipping to return the defunct one. Once I got the new compressor I was back in action. At this point I’m not convinced that spending the extra money on a tank is warranted. I’m able to spray just fine with static pressure without issue. It’s not until I go wide open throttle with the trigger that I notice the pulsation piston style compressors are prone to, but if I’m spraying that much paint does it matter?

After spraying away and making huge strides completing some terrain pieces. I decided I should give it a good clean. Wouldn’t you know it, bad luck strikes again. During reassembly I broke the damn fluid nozzle. Now I distinctly recall someone somewhere on the intarwebz telling me I should buy a spare because I will brake it. How silly of me to think that I wouldn’t fall into that percentage of newbies. Yet another order to BLICK… and damn is that little thing expensive.

Overall I’m pleased with this setup and I plan on purchasing the Grex Genesis XA for those bigger projects that don’t require any precision.

Well I’m going to get to spraying some tanks. Thanks for stopping. Cheers!

Airbrushing–The New Hotness

2011-07-16T23:03:00.001-04:00

While airbrushes and the art of airbrushing have been around for a very long time and have even been in modeling for quite awhile they have only broken into the Games Workshop hobby in recent years. Airbrushing is the new hotness. So much so that Games Workshop themselves have jumped on the bandwagon with their Citadel spray gun. A modest yet useful tool when laying down a basecoat or wash. I have myself jumped on the airbrush bandwagon. Procuring a double action, gravity fed airbrush, a portable compressor and a few accessories.

First up, the airbrush. After quite a bit of research I decided on a Grex Genesis XG airbrush. I chose this brand because their products looked rather decent, the price was acceptable and what reviews I could find were all positive. I had considered an Iwata (specifically the HP-C Plus) because they’re the industry standard, but I couldn’t bring myself to pay extra just for the name.

The compressor is again Grex brand. I’m keeping it all in the family. It’s a simple 1/8 HP Oil-less piston compressor. All of the model airbrushing aficionados have strong, unyielding opinions on these things. What it should come with, what power rating it should have, what PSI level it can maintain and what accessories should be used with it. Well, I chose the Grex because again the price was right and it comes standard with all of the accessories these guys say should be purchased in addition to. This bad boy comes with an integral moisture trap, pressure gauge, pressure regulating valve and auto shut-off.

The two accessories I got for my new setup are the quick connector to easily disconnect the airbrush from the compressor to better refill the paint cup and a six foot braided air hose as the plastic coiled one that comes with the compressor will place unwanted resistance on movement and can easily become kinked.

Tomorrow I’m going to jump right into using this thing and let you know how it goes and what I think of this airbrushing setup. Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check back for the results. Cheers!

Dark Eldar Archon–The Finish

2011-05-02T19:23:00.001-04:00

Thanks again to all those who have followed this project. This is the closing chapter, the model is completed and has been passed on to its rightful owner. If you read the first post to this project you’d know that I painted this as gift; to show my appreciation. Without further rambling, I present the finished Dark Eldar Archon…

There are lots of step in between my last post on this project to the finished state, but for me to keep the finished model somewhat veiled until I could gift it away, this needed to happen. Follow the jump for step-by-step tutorials of the completing stages.

As always, thanks for stopping by. Stay tuned for what’s in the pipes as I’ll have some reviews of a great product line that recently made its way to the USA. Cheers!

Husk Blade

The blade was basecoated with Dheneb Stone.
Two watered down washes were then applied – the fist was Baal Red followed by Devlan Mud.
The blade was then layered with Dheneb Stone.
A highlight of 1:1 Dehneb Stone to Skull White was applied.
Lastly another highlight of pure Skull White.

Cape Lining

The inside of the cape was first given a basecoat of Red Gore.
Highlights were built up with a 3:1 mix of Red Gore and Fortress Grey.
Further highlighting was done with a !:1 mix of Red Gore and Fortress Grey.
The entire area was washed with Leviathan Purple.
Lastly the most prominent features of the cape were highlighted with Fortress Grey.

Glowing Eyes

The eyes were basecoated with pure Snot Green
Scorpion Green was then applied to all but the inner part of the lens. The Scorpion Green was then thinned heavily and applied around the eye sockets.
The lens was then highlighted with a 1:1:1 mix of Scorpion Green, Golden Yellow and Skull White. This mix was also then thinned and applied around the eye sockets.
Pure Skull White was used as the final highlight and also applied to the most extreme points around the eye sockets.

If there is a detail you’re interested in that I didn’t cover, go ahead and leave a comment and I’ll reply with an explanation.

Dark Eldar Archon-Flayed Skin

2011-04-17T18:54:00.001-04:00

Just another update on the Dark Eldar Archon. I finished the flayed skin and fur pelt on his back. Sadly, I couldn’t stop and take step-by-step photos for this one as wet blending doesn’t really allow for it, but the steps are typed out for you below the picture.

Step 1. I started by basecoating the flayed skin with Tallarn Flesh.

Step 2. The flayed skin was shaded with a 1:1 mix of Dark Flesh and Liche Purple that was thinned and applied into the recesses.

Step 3. The whole area was washed with Ogryn Flesh.

Step 4. I then highlighted the flayed skin with thinned Rotting Flesh.

Step 5. The flayed skin was highlighted again with a 1:1 mix Rotting Flesh and Skull White.

Step 6. Further highlighting was done by adding more Skull White to the previous mix. Approximately 2:1 Skull White to Rotting Flesh.

Step 7. Lastly some edge highlighting was done by adding in more Skull White to the previous mix. Approximately 3:1 Skull White to Rotting Flesh.

Dark Eldar Archon-Bronze Step-by-Step

2011-04-14T22:39:00.001-04:00

The title pretty much says it all. I’m really pleased with how this model is coming along I may even end up mounting him on a plinth. On to the tutorial…

Step 1. The bronze details were first basecoated with a 1:1:1 mix of Tin Bitz, Dwarf Bronze, and Scortched Brown.

Step 2. A second basecoat was applied using a 1:1 mix of Tin Bitz and Dwarf Bronze.

Step 3. A 2:1 mix of Devlan Mud and Chaos Black was carefully applied into the recesses and joints of all the bronze details.

Step 4. The raised areas, spikes and edges were highlighted with a 1:1:1 mix of Tin Bitz, Dwarf Bronze and Mithril Silver.

Step 5. A fine edge highlight of pure Mithril Silver was then applied to only the most prominent features and tips. The bladed edge of the spikes then got a wash of the 1:1 mix Devlan Mud and Chaos Black and were finished off by taking the mix from step 4, thinning it heavily and glazing it over the washed edge.

Disclaimer: If you choose to apply this tutorial and/or the last one covering the gold details to your new Tomb Kings army… You will never finish painting your models. ;)

Dark Eldar Archon-Gold's

2011-04-09T12:46:00.001-04:00

As promised I’m back with another step-by-step painting tutorial with photos. This time around I’m doing the gold bits of the Archon.

Step 1. The gold bits were base coated with a 1:1 mix of Scorched Brown and Shining Gold.

Step 2. They were then layered with Shining Gold to bring up the color.

Step 3. Shading was done with a 2:1 mix of Ogryn Flesh and Leviathan Purple. This mix was applied to the recesses and parts where shadows would form.

Step 4. To further shade the gold Devlan Mud was washed into the recesses.

Step 5 & 6. The edges were highlighted with a 1:1 mix of Burnished Gold and Shining Gold followed by an edge highlight of pure Mithril Silver. These two steps are combined because sometimes it’s necessary to go back with the gold mix and ‘glaze’ it onto the extreme highlights to tone them down a bit.

Next up I’ll be tackling the brass details of the shoulder guards, knee pad and helm so stay tuned and as always, thanks for stopping by. Cheers!

Dark Eldar Archon-Reds

2011-04-04T20:54:00.001-04:00

Hi all, just a small update on the Archon. I didn’t bother to stop and take step-by-step photos on this one because there just isn’t that much to cover.

Step 1. Lay down a base coat of Mechrite Red.

Step 2. Build up the colour with Blood Red.

Step 3. Apply a wash of Devlan Mud directly into the recesses.

Step 4. Highlight with thinned Blazing Orange.

Step 5. Edge highlight with Vomit Brown.

Step 6. Wash with Baal Red.

The next update will be a step-by-step with photos of the metals so check back soon. Thanks for stopping. Cheers!

Dark Eldar Archon–Armour Step-by-Step

2011-03-23T22:52:00.001-04:00

Wow… I need a drink… OK, Now that I have my Rum & Coke I can type out this post of paint mixing followed by more paint mixing and finish it off with completely absurd paint mixing. So on with it then…

Step 1. After priming the model Chaos Black I laid down the base coat of the armour using a 2:1:1 mix of Enchanted Blue, Dark Angels Green and Chaos Black.

Step 2. Thinned Chaos Black was painted into the recesses of the armour and between overlapping armour plates.

Step 3. Edge highlight the armour plates using a 2:1 mix Enchanted Blue and Dark Angels Green.

Step 4. Also what I call completely absurd paint mixture step. Build up the edge highlighting on the armour with a 6:2:1:1 mix of Rotting Flesh, Enchanted Blue, Dark Angels Green and Scorpion Green

Step 5. The last and the easiest step. Highlight the sharpest edges of the armour plates with straight Rotting Flesh.

That’s all folks. I’m going to go finish my Rum & Coke and relax for the rest of the night. Thanks for stopping. Cheers!

Side Project: Dark Eldar Archon

2011-03-21T22:10:00.001-04:00

While I’m pretty sure I have the equivalent of hobby ADD this side project is for good cause. So for the time being all of my other projects have been put on temporary hold.

I’m painting this Archon for a friend who’s incredible act of generosity compels me to repay his kindness. Since he refuses any monetary reimbursement, I’m repaying his hospitality as best I can. Despite the Archon being one of the most evil and selfish figures in the entire 40K universe it’s his favorite sculpted miniature. So I bought one and plan on painting it as best I can for him.

I finished the base tonight…

Front

I extended the rock that is under the right foot using green stuff (obviously). I then used Vallejo Black Lava to texture the base and added some GW basing sand to give it a little more character.

Back

I’ll finish the base off with some GW static grass after the model is finished being painted. Once all is done it should be very close to the one on depicted on GW’s website.

Thanks for stopping. Cheers!

Hunt For Voldorius by Andy Hoare

2011-03-06T18:36:00.001-05:00

I was able to get my hands on this book before it hit store shelves back in August 2010. It hit shelves a month later in September.

I just finished reading this book a short while ago so I could pick up the new Space Marines Battles novel The Purging Of Kadillus. Why did it take me seven months to read? Because this book is just that BAD.

I struggled to finish this book. It was not captivating nor was it even interesting. In fact it was rather dull and laughable. I don’t even really care to discuss the content of the book as the only enjoyment I received from this novel was Mr. Hoare’s gripping obsession with the word “cacophony”. Every other sentence seemed to use this damn word. Let me give you the gist of the novel and save you $12.00… Captain Kor'sarro Khan of the White Scars tracks down his arch nemesis Lord Voldorius (an Alpha Legion daemon prince), some ridiculous shit happens, Captain Shrike and the Raven Guard show up, some more stupid shit happens, Marvel’s Silver Surfer swings on by and then Voldorius is slain… The End!

My concluding thought on this novel is two parts: One, do not waste your money on this book and; two, for Mr. Hoare, “ Andy, it’s called a fething thesaurus… Try using it.”

Show ‘em You Care This Valentines Day

2011-02-10T20:03:00.002-05:00

With an Autocannon to the face…

Cheers!

Oh, Sweet Nectar!

2011-02-07T19:23:00.001-05:00

The Ultramarines candy train continues to take on passengers.

The battle brothers in the picture are just for effect. The Rhino’s by themselves seemed a little boring despite their casual Forge World attire.

Next passenger… What has four S7 AP4 shots with re-rolls to hit? ;)

Cheers!

All Aboard The Eye Candy Train

2011-02-03T18:46:00.001-05:00

Gentleman BEHOLD! I have created; this…

And upon retrospect, I ask myself… Why?

I obviously know why, because it’s fething awesome. I’m just quoting a little old school ATHF for you guys. Cheers! :)

The Art of Concealment

2011-02-01T19:23:00.001-05:00

There is a saying that has stuck with me…. “We don’t make mistakes, just happy little accidents.” –Bob Ross

Despite your opinion of Mr. Ross this quote is an outstanding bit of wisdom, that while he was referring to the art of oil painting; this, in my opinion, should be applied to every day life. Its meaning is that ‘mistakes’ aren’t really mistakes at all, but rather an opportunity for exploration.

For this post I’m applying it to our Games Workshop hobby… Obviously!

In the picture above, take note of the gap between the tread armour plate at the front of the vehicle and the side armour plate with the Ultramarines hatch. What happened here was a horizontal misalignment of the side plate creating a gap between the plates that gets increasingly larger towards the top like a V. Click to enlarge the picture to see it a little better.

In my exploration into how to correct this I finally decided to try and conceal it. But how? I came across a bit that I wouldn’t normally have used (Fact is I originally thought the bit was ugly.), a grouping of purity seals, but in this case however, it was perfect for this application. The placement of this single bit was enough to help hide the worst part of the gap, making the two armour plates look more properly aligned.

You may also have noticed that between the hatch and the sponson mount the skull & cross bones has been removed and in its place a terminator cross. This is the result of an accident where I failed to fully research a product and ended up chemically melting some of the plastic. With the original skull & cross bones horribly distorted it needed removed and in doing so opened up an opportunity for exploration as to how I could fix it. The terminator cross is from the Forge World Ultramarines icon pack and in my opinion looks 1000x better. So I repeated it on the other side.

So the moral of the post is; don’t fret when you have an accident, think about how you can use the accedent to your advantage; use it to follow a path you would not have other wise followed. I'm willing to bet that most of the simple details that we see on masterfully crafted models that look like they were done on purpose were actually little accidents that ended up turning into something great.

The pursuit of perfection leads to madness. Cheers!

The Oni Shall Rise Again

2011-01-30T21:11:00.001-05:00

“We endevour in the darkness of battle who cannot win the fight. The time for peace is over and now it is time to die. It is the age of war and our last days must be lived amidst the sound of our own destruction.

Now the great wheel of human existence turns almost full circle. From the cradle of the Earth it has turned through vast epochs of time. Once in the light of the sun it turned as civilizations rose and fell and were forgotten. In the light of the stars knowledge blossomed and withered whilst the wheel span on. Now the great wheel of human existence, almost complete, turns again as it approaches a time of dying and the moment of inhuman birth.

Abhor the Night, it is the Light that Endures!”

The Ultramarines project is reborn and re-forged. “We march for Macragge!”

Welcome back. Cheers! :)

Da Boyz Is Almost Ready

2010-10-21T18:51:00.001-04:00

I’m making baby steps in progress, but I’m getting there, the finish line is in sight… I think. This time around I finished the second wash and edge highlighting on the metal bitz. I’m very pleased with the combination of Badab Black wash over a coat of Devlan Mud wash. It gives an incredibly nice dirty and grimy look. The next steps are some highlights on the black and leather, painting on the checkers, finishing the base and lastly I’m going to give weathering powders a try and dirty these guys up a bit more.

Until the next post; Cheers!

A Bit of Photography

2010-10-18T12:09:00.001-04:00

I was gaming this past Saturday with a local club I joined and one of the members decided to bring along his DSLR camera and snap some photos. Since I’ve been lacking on actual hobby updates I figured I’d share the above photo, which in my opinion is quite fantastic.

Thanks goes out to Jordan G. for this great photo of a lone marine holding The Temple of Skulls from the vile forces of Chaos.

And another of my Predator tank stalking a Daemon Price of Chaos. Just in case you’re wondering how the battle ended, the setup was Seize Ground (5 objective) with a Spearhead deployment. The went five turns… Final results: Space Marines - 1, Chaos Space Marines - 0. Glory be to the Emperor!

Thanks for stopping. Cheers!

Progress On Da Boyz

2010-09-26T23:03:00.001-04:00

Just a quick progress photo of da Boyz… I got the leather and metal bitz painted and hit' ‘em with the first coat of wash.

I’m finding that there is a ton of detail on these models; far more than I had ever seen just glancing over them in their ‘nude’ grey plastic state. Progress is a lot slower than anticipated (it always is), but as the codex says… It takes time to build a proper WAAAGH!

Cheers!

A Change of Pace

2010-09-19T20:53:00.001-04:00

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted; sadly I’ve had a case of hobby burn out. In my blogging absence though I’ve managed to get in regular games with a club I’ve joined; Innocence Means Nothing. They’re a great bunch of guys who are both fun to game with and hang out with.

When the hobby burn out had passed I found myself wanting to paint something different, something non Astartes. I’ve painted a lot of Space Marines to get my fill for a little while. So out came the Assault on Black Reach Orks.

They’re not finished obviously, but I figured I’d chronicle my progress on them as I finish the models I have and maybe even add to the army… I really want a Deff Dread.

How I painted the flesh:

After priming them black I laid down a base coat of Dark Angels Green. -In hindsight I think Orkhide Shade would have been better.
The flesh was then layered with Goblin Green leaving some of the darker green showing in the deepest recesses.
A light drybrush of Rotting Flesh was then applied followed by an even lighter drybrush of Bleached Bone on just then most pronounced features.
Liberal coat of Thrakka Green wash.
Lastly the flesh was touched up with thinned (watered down) Goblin Green.

Thanks for dropping by. Cheers!

Hi, Dan Abnett!

2010-08-23T22:46:00.002-04:00

After a bit of winding down I thought I’d show off my swag from Games Day 2010… And brag a little about how awesome a time I had.

First up, I got to meet my favorite Black Library author Mr. Dan Abnett. While waiting for the Ultramarine movie trailer to start for the 1st time at the Codex Pictures booth my wife piece taps me on the shoulder… “Hey, isn’t that Dan Abnett?” I turn to my right and there he is. Now, I’ve always considered myself to be one that would never succumb to being ‘star struck’. Well… I found out differently. While introducing myself, momentarily, I quite literally forgot my name… And yes, Mr. Abnett poked fun at me for it.

Did I mention that Games Day this year was spectacular? Well it was and GW was giving away product like mad men. Crowds would form and random product would be tossed into the air for the savage pack to fight over. Thanks to my friend Greg, I ended up snagging a Chief Librarian Tigurius for my Ultramarines army and my girl ended up procuring a sweet set of Fantasy Battle dice.

The wife piece wanted to get a crash course in painting so we ended up taking a seat at the Paint & Take table. Below is her Ork Boy and my skeleton. For her first time ever putting paint to a miniature I think she did a pretty decent job. With a little refinement maybe I can put her to work finishing up my armies.

Lastly… The apex, the proverbial ‘epic win’ if you will. Games Day 2010 hosted ample amounts of fun things to do. One of which was called the Carnival of Chaos; which was really nothing more than carnival games where you could win stuff, but it was GW stuff so thusly worth while. As you made purchases or participated in events you could earn ‘tickets’ to the Carnival of Chaos.

I purchased Hunt for Voldorius, the next book in the Space Marine Battles series for $12 and got a single ‘ticket’ for the Carnival of Chaos. I immediately hopped in line for the Frisbee-toss game. Much like the actual carnival game, the smaller the hole I could put the Frisbee through, the larger the prize I got to choose from (small = fany pack, medium = dice tin or blister pack and large/grand prize = Space Hulk).

One ‘ticket’ gave me three chances to take home the grand prize… Toss one, I made it through the medium prize hole. I was thinking “Sweet, even if I miss with the other two I’m going to walk away with something decent.” I get ready to toss Frisbee #2 and I hear my friend yell “Go for the grand prize… Do it!” and my girl starts to cheer me on as well. So I go for it…

The picture says it all. I bought a $12 book and walked away with a free Space Hulk. Did I mention that Games Day this year was spectacular? Well it was!

Thank you for dropping by and reading. Cheers!

Space Marines Army Finished?

2010-07-23T19:47:00.001-04:00

It’s the weekend… And everybody loves pictures; especially pictures of fully painted armies.

Here’s my Space Marine army in all its; small… glory. It’s not much, I can muster 1200 points. I’m not entirely sure what I want to add to it, if anything at all. Perhaps a bike squad or a Vindicator.

Predator Heavy Support

2010-07-19T21:28:00.001-04:00

The latest completion for my Space Marine army is this, in my opinion, beautifully painted Predator Annihilator.

The sponsons are actually magnetized, but I find that I rarely, if ever, use the heavy bolters. For a tank that can not move and fire all of its weapons… If I’m going to sit still I want to make sure that whatever I fire at dies. Dice gods willing and all of course.

I must say that while painting this tank I have fallen in love with Dheneb Stone. This foundation paint combined with Devlan Mud equals pure win. It even managed to make painting the headlamps 1000x easier.

Quick and easy headlamps: Lay down a good foundation of Dheneb Stone followed by Yellow Ink and then Gryphonne Sepia wash. Give it just the tiniest highlight of Skull White and you’re done.

Yes, I said Yellow Ink… I still have full pots of all the GW inks. Jealous? :P You could use some watered down Sunburst Yellow to get the same effect though.

Thanks for dropping by and reading my post. Cheers!

Gallery Up and Running

2010-07-08T19:37:00.001-04:00

Blogger now offers, or rather has made it easy, to have multiple pages. Check out the links in the top left; Home, Gallery and Downloads. I have the Gallery up and running and plan on adding more content that is already posted as well as new content as it becomes available. Right now I’m waiting for Grendel to share out his Picasa album so I can make a link for his Chaos Space Marines and Daemons.

The Downloads page is for the most part empty, but does at least link to my ‘Downloads’ label so you can see all of my roster sheets and a few other offerings.

Stop back soon, I should have my Space Marine Predator finished shortly. Cheers!

Odd-toed Ungulate Or Rhino

2010-06-07T19:05:00.001-04:00

I finished up this bad boy the other week, but hadn’t gotten around to posting it until now.

Here it is next to its brother…

If you’re curious about the arrows you can find out how I did them here. Thanks for stopping. Cheers!

Helsreach by Aaron Dembski Bowden

2010-05-29T19:27:00.001-04:00

Move over Dan Abnett and Graham McNeill, there’s a new hard hitting, heavy weight in the ranks of The Black Library and his name is Aaron Dembski Bowden.

Once again the world of Armageddon is besieged by orks and a small crusade of 100 Black Templars led by Chaplain Grimaldus are among its defenders, charged with defending Hive Helsreach. As the war wages on and Hive Helsreach starts to fall, any hope of victory is crushed as the ork horde constructs a Great Gargant whose size dwarfs even the mighty Imperator titan, but legend tells of a secret, great and powerful weapon from the first war for Armageddon; one that the Adeptus Mechanicus would rather sacrifice the planet than awaken… it may be the very salvation they seek.

This book is… Awesome! The writing is so eloquent and impassioned that it draws you in from the very first sentence. Helsreach is a must read in my opinion. If you can spare the $12.00 I highly suggest you run out and buy it before you can’t find it anymore.

Cheers!

Assault Tactica – Space Marine Captain

2010-05-05T12:58:00.001-04:00

I’ve never posted anything about tactics before, but I’ve been mulling over how to load out my Space Marine captain and with GW’s recent post on their What’s New Today blog, I thought I’d share my thoughts and get some feedback.

The current load out I have is: Storm Bolter, Relic Blade and Artificer Armour.

The captains role as I see it, is to be an assault unit and one to be noticed no doubt. Further more, as an Independent Character he can join other units to aid them with things such as Leadership and/or boost their effectiveness in assault. For these reasons and after much deliberation, this is the best point for point load out I came up with and here’s why…

Storm Bolter – This was chosen over a boltgun or combi-weapon simply because a rapid fire weapon is useless in an assault unit. A boltpistol is perfectly fine, but for 3 points you gain an additional S4 shot, can shoot up to 24” and are able to assault after using it. The Storm Bolter was also chosen because of my next option which renders any pistol as an assault weapon useless.

Relic Blade – Yea, I know, it’s damn expensive and you’re probably thinking, Why not take a Power Fist, it’s cheaper and doubles your strength? And you’d be absolutely right, however using a Power Fist negates that nice I5. With a Relic Blade, I’m still increasing my S to 6, still negating armour saves, still have the same draw back of loosing +1A, but… I get to keep my I5. With an Independent Character that can be singled out during combat as well as fall to Instant Death, striking first can mean everything. The Relic Blade was also chosen over the other options because of that increase to S6. Let’s face it, S4 doesn’t cut it most of the time if you’re facing-off with another Independent Character or Monstrous Creature.

Artificer Armour – Point for point this is much better than Terminator armour and obviously better than Power Armour. It’s not a necessety, but I like to protect my investments if you catch what I mean. Opting for Terminator armour gets you a Storm Bolter, Power Weapon and a 2+ save for 40 points. Artificer Armour plus the cost of the Storm Bolter and Relic Blade above comes to 48 points. So for 8 points, you get a better close combat weapon and keep your abilities to ride in a Rhino/Razorback as well as do a Sweeping Advance. What about teleporting in? Whose to say he’ll arrive when and where you need him.

Comments welcome and as always, thanks for stopping by. Cheers!

Rynn’s World by Steve Parker

2010-05-03T14:25:00.001-04:00

I just finished Rynn’s World by Steve Parker the other night. A good thing too as Helsreach, the next installment of the Space Marine Battle Novel series is starting to hit bookshelves.

Rynn’s World tells the tail of an Ork invasion on the Crimson Fists home planet of Rynn’s World. Shortly after the Orks make planet fall a great and terrible tragedy strikes the Crimson Fists as they suffer massive losses due to their fortress monastery being reduced to a pile of rubble. The book follows the chapter master Pedro Kantor as he struggles to keep his chapter from being completely annihilated.

Overall I really enjoyed the book. It was very captivating at times and had me eagerly flipping the pages. There are however, times where scenes ended rather abruptly and left me wanting more. Sadly there are also a plethora of type-o’s, but none that any average reader can’t get past. If you’re a fan of the Crimson Fists or even just like Space Marines and their few versus many battle stories then I definitely recommend this book.

Ultramarines Scouts Squad

2010-04-28T21:58:00.001-04:00

Holy shit people… It’s been forever since I’ve made a post. My apologies, but life gets in the way sometimes.

So I finished a long over due project. My Ultramarines Scout squad as you may have guessed from the aptly named title.

These guys are painted in the same scheme as my Ultramarine combat squad.

Legs and Arms – Starting from Chaos Black base coat paint the entire area Graveyard Earth. Paint the area Kommando Khaki taking care not to get any in the deepest recesses. Highlight again with a 1:1 mix of Kommando Khaki and Skull White.
Camo Cloaks – I started with a 1:1 mix of Chaos Black and Adeptus Battlegrey. I then highlighted with straight Adeptus Battlegrey. The camo pattern was done using varying greys and randomly mixing them to get all kinds of different colours. (I honestly couldn’t tell you, but the sheer randomness made for a good effect I think.) The inside of the cloak started with a 1:1 mix Chaos black and Shadow Grey followed by a highlight of straight Shadow Grey and finished with a further highlight of a 1:1 mix Shadow Grey and Space Wolves Grey.
Flesh – Tanned Flesh was used as a base coat. Dwarf Flesh was then applied to all but the deepest recesses. Finally the most pronounced features were highlighted with Elf Flesh.
Aquila – Starting from a Chaos Black undercoat I painted the whole thing Shinning Gold. I then painted Brown Ink into the recesses (this could be substituted for Devlan Mud). Once the ink was dry I carefully highlighted the very edges with a 1:1 mix of Shinning Gold and Mithril Silver

Next up… who knows… I have so many projects going on right now, but I’m working on completing the Ultramarine Tactical squad. Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers!

"Til Gran Kythera Dow"

2010-03-17T13:46:00.014-04:00

Malifaux is the great new game published by Wyrd. The game has been called revolutionary by many people due to the fact it utilizes playing cards instead of dice for determining outcomes of actions. Having read the rules and witnessed many demos, I think it's not a step in a new direction, but definitely a unique one, blending multiple game genres into one solid game. What I mean by blending is that you have, at the core, a miniatures skirmish game (you only really need to pick up a starter box and rulebook to play). The use of cards allows for slight variations in traditional miniatures rules and translates into some card manipulation like you might see in Magic or similar CCGs. The cards also lend the game to a resource management style, as you might see in board games. If you haven't heard about this game yet (I'm sure you have), haven't checked it out, or just need a break from traditional dice tossing, I recommend you give this game some serious scrutiny.

Another big draw for me personally is the miniatures. The minis are 32mm scale, slightly bigger than the GW minis. The bases in the game are the same as you would see in Warmachine, the 30mm round lipped. All types of genres are present in Malifaux. You like horror? It's there. Western? That too. Want some steam punk? How about Victorian? It's all there. For me, I have chosen to run the necromancers of Malifaux, the Resurrectionists. I have picked up all the starters for the 'Rectionists (there's about 3 starters per faction, 5 factions) and decided to paint up one of the more popular of the group: Seamus.

Seamus (aka the Mad Hatter) is Malifaux's version of Jack the Ripper meets Necronomicon. I've seen Seamus painted a variety of ways, however each way seemed to have bright, vibrant colors, sometimes pastel. Not for me! I chosen some more 'earthy' colors, and decided to use some simple designs using those colors to show he isn't wrapped to tightly.

Hat and coat-Scorched Brown, 50/50 Scorched Brown and Graveyard Earth, Graveyard highlight.

Cuffs, bag, collar-Graveyard Earth, 50/50 Graveyard and Commando Khaki, Khaki highlight

Pants and hat band-Catachan green, 50/50 Catachan and Camo Green,Camo highlight

Pant Stripes-Camo Green, 50/50 Camo and Bleached Bone highlight

Gunmetal-50/50 Chaos Black and Boltgun metal, highlight with Boltgun

Pocket watch and bag metal- Dwarf Bronze, 50/50 Dwarf Bronze Mithril silver, Mithril highlight.

Flesh- Dark flesh, Dwarf Flesh, 50/50 Dwarf flesh and Elf Flesh, Elf Flesh highlight

Stripes on hat-Chaos Black base, Dheneb Stone (leaving some black showing on the edges), Devlan Mud, Dheneb Stone.

Whites-Done with building up from Codex Grey to Fortress Grey, 50/50 Fortress and Skull White, with final Skull White highlights.

I really tried to do a better than table top quality on this mini. The fact that I don't need so many models to play really allows me to want to a better job on the individual models. Hope it shows and I'll be posting more soon!

~Grendel

Returning to the Ultramarines – Scouts WIP

2010-03-13T19:31:00.001-05:00

I can’t believe its been over two months since my last post. Time can pass rather quickly when dealing with pesky life issues. Anyway…

Getting back to it after a solid two month hiatus I’ve decided to return to my Ultramarines. I’m a fan-boy, what can I say, that and with the new Blood Angel codex coming I figured I’ll take a step back from doing red.

I’ve started making progress on my scouts, which are thankfully coming along very nicely. When I fist dove into these guys I was a bit apprehensive as there is a lot of white (anyone who’s painted white onto black understands), but so far so good.

Keeping with (what I feel is) a slightly better than table-top standard these guys are all done in mostly the same manner as my tactical squad.

Flesh – Tanned Flesh was used as a base coat. Dwarf Flesh was then applied to all but the deepest recesses. Finally the most pronounced features were highlighted with Elf Flesh.
Fatigues – I painted the entire area Graveyard Earth followed by Kommando Khaki, taking care not to get any in the deepest recessed. Next I built up the the color with a 1:1 mix of Kommando Khaki and Skull White. Finally I finished it off with a highlight of pure Skull White.
Aquila – Starting from a Chaos Black undercoat I painted the whole thing Shinning Gold. I then painted Brown Ink into the recesses (this could be substituted for Devlan Mud). Once the ink was dry I carefully highlighted the very edges with a 1:1 mix of Shinning Gold and Mithril Silver.

Thanks for stopping by. Cheers!

Daemons, Part 1

2010-03-10T08:17:00.000-05:00

I always wanted to play Daemons when they first came out, but one thing about the army always distressed me: Everything deploys via deep strike (AKA Daemonic Assault). It didn't make any sense to me. Why does GW call this rule 'Daemonic Assault' if my daemons can't assault when they enter play? I guess calling it 'Daemonic Non-Assault' just doesn't sound as cool. Furthermore, I didn't quite grasp the point of an assault army having such a blatant weakness.

The more I thought about it and read, the more mistaken I was. Yes, if you deep strike your units out in the middle of nowhere and in the open, some, maybe even most will be killed. However, the invulnerable saves really help in this matter. Not to mention that Daemons seem to be the type of army that if you loose some models in the beginning of the game, the remaining few can still really ruin an opponents day in close combat.

For the base troops in my army, I have a particular fondness for Daemonettes. For the points cost, you really get a bargain. With fleet, rending, high initiative, and 4 attacks off a charge, these gals pack a punch, and the only real complaint I have about the unit is their low strength and frailty. You need to hug cover or get these ladies into combat ASAP.

For the colors, I have chosen Astronomicon Grey with a 50/50 highlight of Astronomicon/skull white. Any claws, horns, nails, whatever where done with an overbrushing of Regal Blue, highlighted with Enchanted blue. The hair follows this as well but with an added highlight of Hawk Turquoise. The armor bits were actually pretty fun to paint, as it gave me an excuse to use colors I'll probably never get to use again. Amethyst Purple, an old Citadel color from way back when, a purplish metallic. Parts of the armor where painted with that, followed by a highlight of straight Mithril Silver. Other parts of the armor were painted with Boltgun followed by Mithril highlights.

After finishing a squad of Daemonettes, I decided for something a little more brutal. Bloodletters fit the bill nicely. If I tie something up in hand to hand with the Daemonettes, the 'Letters should be able to paste whatever is left. The Furious Charge ability, power weapon attacks, marine strength/toughness are gravy! The only thing I needed to really worry about is making sure I got the charge, which can be problematic at times.

The colors on this squad were done in the quickest way possibly, using alot of drybrushing techniques that included a base of Mechrite Red, then Blood Red, followed by sparingly using some Blazing Orange. The horns and tongues were left black, highlighted with Codex Grey. The Hellblades were done with Tin Bitz, followed by Brazen Brass highlights on the pommels and handguards, the blade itself with some Mechrite/Blood applied at the raised edges. Any skulls were done with the Dheneb/Devlan/Dheneb. It's a very easy paint scheme, and makes the models look good.

Finally, we come to the big boy! Soul Grinders are friggin awesome models, with some pretty solid abilities to bring to the table. Excellent CC potential, Fleet, 50/50 shooting, and anti-armor/infantry upgrades makes for a mean model. The only problem I had with this model is the occasional odd look I got from passers-by for declaring a 'Tongue Attack' on something.

This model was another one I wanted to get done quick but look good. Drybrushing all around, with the skin - Regal/Enchanted/Ice/Skull White. The mechanized portion of the model is just Boltgun. Parts that were left black were highlighted with Codex Grey. The chaos emblems on the leg plates, chest, and abdomen were done with mithril silver, and the the outer edges were hit by a watered down Snakebite Leather, just to make it look a lil' dirty!

This is just a brief taste of the army, as I still have much more to paint. Masque, Fateweaver, and some oh-so-fun-to-assemble Tzeentch daemons will be making their way through my painting desk in the near future. Hopefully.

C&C welcome!

~Grendel

Once upon a time...

2010-02-28T23:14:00.006-05:00

I made all these conversions for the death guard and actually posted a few of them on Pit. I was in a 'groove' at that point in time, and thought 'I'll have these babies painted in up no time'. Then I started to play WoW. Then I started to have a woman in my life. Then I started to play more WoW (anyone else familiar with this story?). So here we are, about a year later, and I'm happy to say, they are completed!

I didn't take a picture for every single death guard, just three to show some cool conversions and give a general idea on paint schemes. In a previous post (also from a long time ago) I stated I was going to mix two separate color schemes into the Death Guard army. The first color scheme, as on the leftmost and center figure, consisted of overbrushing Scorched Brown, drybrushing Bleached Bone, smacking down some heavy Devlan Mud, and drybrushing Bleached Bone. The second color scheme, as on the right most figure, was overbrushing Catachan Green, slathering on that good ol' Devlan, drybrushing Cata Green and drybrushing with Camo Green. Any tubes were done with Mechrite Red followed by a 50/50 drybrushing of Mechrite Red and Dheneb Stone. The metal bits were simply Boltgun Metal and Devlan Mud. The skin on the Death Guard started of with Adeptus Battlegrey, followed by a wash of Asurmen Blue, highlighted with Elf Flesh. The trophy head held by the champ was given a further highlight of Skull White. The thing I love about the paint schemes above is they're relatively quick, and I was able to complete fifteen troops in the course of two evenings, probably eight hours total.

The other thing I completed was my 'Hulk SMASH!' Greater Daemon of Nurgle. The model itself was a conversion I decided to do after I did my Daemon Prince (see post of that from last year), as I had a complete body from the GD to work with. I just needed a head and arms. I rummaged through my bitz for a while trying to decide what exactly would fit on the body, when I remembered this now defunct game called Vor. Vor had these awesome creatures called Growlers, that were described as a cross between a gorilla and a t-rex. I was lucky enough to have purchased some of these before the game went to the wayside. So after relieving the Growler of his head and arms, I decided that wasn't enough. Fortunately, there were Growler Pups (lil' baby Growlers). I thought the three-headed look was great and each had a single horn to boot! Very Nurgle-y!

The paint job was done in the Catachan Green scheme as described above. The only thing to add is the open sores were painted with Dark Flesh and washed with Baal Red. Oh yeah, the whole 'Hulk SMASH' thing...well, initially I said that due to the look of the model, but it quickly became evident during a game with Oni that this thing likes to smash a lot of things, like dreads, termies, marines. Fun times :)

~Grendel

Borrowing An Idea

2010-02-13T23:26:00.014-05:00

It's been a while. Pit has 114 followers currently. Last time I posted (May 2009), Pit had a much smaller following, so I would like to reintroduce myself.

My name is Grendel, and I like to cut things.

Don't worry, I'm talking purely from a hobby perspective. For me, the real joy of 40k comes from the assembling and modeling aspect. Painting and even playing 40k pales in comparison at times. Gimme a Dremel, X-acto, greenstuff, and glue, and I'm happy!

My passion is Chaos, though I find myself working on other armies at times. I'm responsible for the Death Guard posts on this site, and will hopefully be responsible for future Chaos Daemons post. Currently, I'm finishing the Death Guard army and working on a Black Legion army. So now that's out of the way, on to the post.

I borrowed an idea. Or stole it. It works either way. The Chaos Defiler is awesome in game, but I can't stand that model, and have always refrained from buying it. I saw plenty of conversion ideas for the kit and never really cared for them. I was going to proxy a Soul Grinder, then Oni showed me this. That friggin' rocks! Thank you, Amaximus, that is a truly awesome conversion! I hope to see it fully painted soon, and I promise not to steal anymore of your work!

In the above picture, the Defiler is armed with twin-linked reapers and flamer. The battle cannon is placed on top of the torso. It does have the front claws for the dread CC weapons.

What about those times when I am feeling Khorne-y? When I want to get up close and have more fun with four close combat arms?

BAM!!!

Ah, magnets, you make my heart sing....

Some of you may notice the extended plating under the 'head'. Well, I was trying to be a little 'realistic' (yeah, I know, it's sci-fi and can be unrealistic) and figured the head seemed to jut out, looking a little vulnerable. The plate is on a hinge, so it can swing up and protect the Defiler's mug.

And a little size comparison next to a regular dread.

Things to do:

Greenstuff work, especially around the head plates.
Fix up the battle cannon, more cables, plating, etc.
Plating for the legs?
Front of the hull is plain between the claws. Need to think about that one.
Magnets on the face and face plate.
Black Legion on this one.
Listen to Oni compliment me on how cool my Defiler looks when it's marauding through his Space Marines :D

~Grendel

Squad X Transport At The Ready

2010-01-10T20:21:00.001-05:00

‘Men… zero hour approaches. Swallow fear and be strong in the face of death. Go forth in the name of the Emperor and show the archenemy what it is to be afraid.’

<Mission data inloaded, insertion point acquired.> ‘Awaiting orders, sir…’

‘Advance!’

I finished up my first Rhino today. All in all I think it came out pretty good. It’s a little brighter than the squad, but no matter. It has more surface area so it was bound to be a tad brighter.

Nothing overly exciting about a Rhino so I tried spicing up the post with that bit of creative writing. After finishing up Titanicus and jumping straight into Blood Pact, I felt an urge. Let me know what you guys think about the Rhino. Cheers!

A Stroke of Madness

2010-01-04T20:58:00.001-05:00

Well… not really, but it’s cool never the less. Time and time again you’ve all heard me go on about how I can’t free hand paint. It’s OK though, I’ve come to terms with it and I’m finding that it’s not a hindrance after all. This ‘folly’ so to speak, in my hobby abilities forces me to create ways of getting around it. So I suppose it’s not really a folly at all, depending on how you look at it.

This post coincides with the last one about painting squad markings on the Rhino’s hatch, but this time around, there will not be any painting. While I may not be the first person to think this up, I don’t recall ever seeing it before, so at least for the duration of writing this post, I’ll consider it my own… stroke of madness.

I took a sheet of 0.8mm plastic card and traced the Rhino hatch out on the plastic card with a pencil.

I then measured out an arrow that would fit and look the way I wanted it to and cut the pieces out.

I roughed up the edges a bit because a little damage makes it look better.

Lastly I have the finished product and in my opinion, looking damn good. I like the raised effect of the plastic card. This will most certainly be repeated on the other rhino, its hatch is already submersed in Simple Green. It’s mostly simple and easy to accomplish and repeat… I say it’s a WIN.

That’s all for now. Thanks again for stopping by. Cheers!

Painting Squad Symbols On A Rhino

2009-12-22T20:26:00.001-05:00

I’ve always fancied squad markings on the top hatch of Rhino’s. I’m not entirely sure why, but they’ve always seems fitting. So naturally that what I want to do with my Rhino’s. The unfortunate reality is that I can’t free hand paint worth a damn. Here’s one solution that I came up with, it’s probably not new, but it works really well.

Scotch Tape is a great thing…

Here I masked off the area in the shape of a tactical squads arrow. I made sure that the very inner edges were pressed flat to keep any paint from running underneath. If you try this you can tell that you have good adhesion when the tape is nearly transparent. Since I wanted my arrow to be white, in this step I filled in the area with Codex Grey.

I used Fortress Grey in this step to help make it easier to paint on the white.

I forgot to take a picture in between painting on the white and this step, but I’m sure you’ll be able to fill in the blank. After painting on the white I pealed the tape back to nice crisp lines. Sadly I also discovered that my arrow was slightly off. So I again used some Scotch Tape were I needed to make corrections.

Here’s my WIP Rhino with the hatch. Overall it came out pretty nice. While doing this though I had a stroke of madness and thought up a crazy idea for the second Rhino. Which may end up being repeated here depending on how well it turns out, but you’ll have to check back after the holidays to see. ;)

Happy Holidays everyone. Cheers!

Titanicus by Dan Abnett

2009-12-18T21:28:00.001-05:00

I finished reading Titanicus and I have to say that this book is incredible. It’s due for re release in paperback soon so I strongly suggest buying it. Surely I am not the first person to give this book rave reviews and I hope I’m not the last.

Titanicus is actually my first Black Library purchase and a fine one I have to admit. This book has single handedly sunk its claws into my imagination and thrusted me into all that is grim and dark and magnificent in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. For the first time ever I’m more than just fascinated by the Warhammer 40,000 universe and its stories. For the first time I want to know more, I want to read more and I can give my thanks to Dan Abnett for that.

Titanicus is the book that I will forever compare future Black Library books to and I honestly think the bar is set high.

The Tyranid Force

2009-12-08T19:30:00.001-05:00

I completed assembly of my Tyranids…

It’s the core of the army, I’ll of course add to it as I see fit. Maybe some more Carnifex’s and/or Zoanthrope’s. Perhaps a Trygon or nine. The army will lay dormant until I get my hands on the new codex, but afterwards it’s straight to paint and then the tabletop.

Righty the Ravener from my last post is making another appearance. I gave him just the tiniest bit of a face lift with the addition of extended carapace bitz on his shoulders. I think it adds a lot to the model for being such a simple addition.

That’s all I have for now. I’m off to assemble the new Fortress of Redemption, which by the way is absolutely massive and gorgeous. It’s definitely a must-see model. Cheers!

The Great Ravener Dilemma of 2009

2009-12-06T14:45:00.001-05:00

So in my massive box set of Tyranids that I purchased there were three Ravener’s. One of which had no right arms. GW was very gracious in replacing my model, but that still left me with a Ravener with no right arms. Poor guy was almost discarded, but I dug through the accumulated Tyranid bitz and found a solution…

I came across the left over rending claw arms from the warrior sprue as well as the scything talons not used on the Genestealers. Problem solved…

Normally Ravener’s have six arms and if they have rending claws, they are the middle pair of arms. I had to improvise here. The Genestealer scything talons are far too small to be the primary set of arms and the warrior rending claws are slightly bigger than the normal Ravener ones. By flipping them I feel I maintained cohesiveness. As for the third set of arms… I don’t have anything else that really works so I’ll just fill the holes with some green stuff.

Back In The Saddle

2009-12-05T21:00:00.001-05:00

It’s been awhile, but now that the thunderstorm looming over my head is finally gone I can get some hobby done and some blog posts up. If you’re wondering where I’ve been… I’ve been dealing with a preverbal shit-storm of bad fortune.

To sum it up as quickly as I can… Both the wife piece and myself wrecked both of our cars two weeks apart, no one was injured. She needed to buy a new vehicle because hers was deemed totaled. I then bought a new one because I wanted to. Thanksgiving came and went, much travelling was done. After the holidays the wife piece and I both became ill. Thankfully none of that H1N1 crap going around. A month later we’re well and I’m back in the saddle and ready to go.

I just finished up my one set of Urban Barricades after leaving them only primed for months. I kept them simple, but made sure to do enough that they wouldn’t be bland. Each piece was first primed black and then given a base coat of Chardon Granite by means of heavy over brushing.

The door in this barricade was first painted with Camo Green and then given a liberal coating of Devlan Mud. The rusty grate was done using the technique described in this months White Dwarf. (Painting The Coach Inn p.86) I started with with a base coat of Dark Flesh, then stippled on some Bestial Brown followed by a tiny bit of Blazing Orange. I have to admit the new GW Stippling Brush was the VIP here. I’ve used old worn out, cut off brushes to stipple before, but the new GW brush is designed for the technique and really does do a better job.

On this barricade you can see the lite dry brushing of Graveyard Earth around the very bottom to give the effect of dust and dirt being kicked up onto the wall.

The gold on this was done very simply by dry brushing on Shinning Gold followed by a highlight of Chainmail and washed with Devlan Mud.

Take note to the fallen statue in front. To make this barricade have bit more personality I focused on making the statue a lighter color. I started with a base coat of Dessert Yellow followed by a highlight of Bleached Bone and then finished it by painting a small amount of Devlan Mud into the deepest recesses.

Here’s another example of the rust technique. This one would have been pretty boring without some additional contrasting colors in the mix.

Lastly the wrecked bike. The gold is done exactly as described above, but the body of the bike started with a base of Modian Blue, washed with Badab Black and then highlighted with Mordian Blue.

That’s all for now. Thanks for stopping. Cheers!

New Army Sheet, The Best One Yet

2009-11-07T18:29:00.001-05:00

First I want to thank everyone who has downloaded my other army sheets and also thank those who gave feedback on them. I’ve listened to your comments and emails and have revised my most popular army sheet to give it what the community has asked for.

What has changed? There are now four HQ rows for all you Space Wolves players and with the Imperial Guard now being able to field more tanks than ever before, I upped the vehicle section to nine rows. Additionally some non Imperial players wanted a sheet that was a little more Xenos friendly. So I changed the background to the most neutral Warhammer 40,000 image I could think of… The 5th Edition Rulebook cover.

This sheet still has all of the great features of the previous one: Automatic text sizing, fully sequential form fields, automatic points totaling, files savable using Adobe Reader and all on an intuitive and dare I say attractive layout.

Follow the jump to download my newest army sheet…

- Army Sheet Download -

You can see all of my other army sheets and downloads by clicking… here.

Enjoy and thanks for stopping. Cheers!

Slightly Revamped Tyranid Color Schemes I & II

2009-10-26T22:56:00.001-04:00

I made some minor adjustments to each of the color schemes. Archetype I (brown shell) got some Bubonic Brown highlights to accent its other wise bland look and feel. Archetype II (green shell) got some Skull White dry brushing on the fleshy bitz and some more Devlan Mud shading on the shell. I believe the addition of more Devlan Mud wash to the green shell would resolve any issues of it being too bright on larger models. All hail the Devlan Mud.

Once the new codex hits I’m going to start my personal Iron Painter challenge so I think this is as far as I’ll take either scheme. Now all I have to do is make a decision which one I like best.

Tyranid Color Scheme Archetype II

2009-10-25T13:48:00.001-04:00

Here is my second choice of color schemes to use for my Tyranid army. I like scheme one because it uses very natural, contrasting colors. I like scheme two because it’s brighter, still has a strong contrast, but is less natural. I’m conflicted which to go with. Perhaps I need to devise a 3rd scheme.

Archetype II

GW Skull White primer > Painted the shell Snot Green > Gryphonne Sepia wash the entire model > Paint Devlan Mud into the recess of the shell and the deepest recess of the body > Chaos Black with a Codex Grey highlight on the fangs > Finally a little Graveyard Earth on the base.

It’s another simple scheme that’s very easy to achieve. Let me know what you think of this scheme and which you like best; scheme one (dark brown shell) or scheme two (green shell).

Thanks for reading. Cheers!

Tyranid Color Scheme Archetype I

2009-10-23T22:18:00.001-04:00

I chose to test my color scheme on a single ripper. It didn’t come out exactly as planned, but none the less I like the results. The shell was supposed to be brown with a yellowish hue, not brown with a red hue. I’ll need to do another test with a different base color and see how that goes.

Archetype I

GW Skull White primer > Painted the shell Scorched Brown > Gryphonne Sepia wash over the whole model > Devlan Mud was into the recesses of the shell > Chaos Black on the claws followed by a high light of Codex Grey > Lastly the little base was done with Graveyard Earth

The scheme is meant to be as easy as possible while yielding good table top results as I plan on doing a sort of Iron Painter chalange. Next I think I’ll try a green shell with a whiter body.

Comments, criticisms and suggestions are more than welcome.

R.I.P. Frosty The Snow Marine 8/09 – 10/09

2009-10-20T21:01:00.001-04:00

This post is dedicated in loving memory of Frosty the Snow Marine. May the emperor bless. “We had some good times ‘ol buddy, I’ll miss ya.”

Frosty met his demise in the green abyss a.k.a. Simple Green.

I have to say that this stuff has done it again. Another successful Simple Green story to add to the pile. I left my frosted tactical squad soak for a little more than 24 hours, pulled them out and got busy scrubbing them with an old tooth brush. About 98% of the paint came off. Good enough for most I’d assume, but I’m a perfectionist so back into the green abyss they went for another 24 hours. After the second dip and scrubbing I was much happier with the results. You can see below that the primer was left almost wholly unscathed, the plastic completely unharmed and the paint 99.9% gone.

The squad is ready for paint once more, but this time will not be subject to the horrors of GW’s Purity Seal. Instead I have two cans of Testors Dullcote on standby.

Aside from this I haven’t been able to accomplish much. I’ve been in Florida this past week on business. I have however managed to get my Hive Tyrant and my super exclusive closed claw Lictor assembled. I want another Hive Tyrant, but I will most definitely be waiting for the new plastic kit. Why? Three reasons: 1. It’s plastic. 2. Wings. 3. It’s plastic… The metal kit is a slutty whore and pushed my patients to the limit.

Until next post, thanks for stopping. Cheers!

Gearing Up For Tyranids

2009-10-05T23:11:00.001-04:00

Not to long ago I stumbled across a deal that I couldn’t ignore. An unopened 1000 point Tyranid army box for $200.00. With the new codex coming in just a few months I’d be a fool to have not snatched it up… right?

I’m not sure how old the box set is, but it’s one that I’ve never seen before. I think it may be from the early days of 4th edition.

Contents: (1) Hive Tyrant, (1) Zoanthrope, (16) Gaunts, (16) Hormagaunts, (4) Ripper Swarms, (6) Warriors, (8) Genestealers, (3) Raveners, (1) Lictor and the current Tyranid codex.

I think the only additions I’ll make are another Hive Tyrant, winged of course. Three Carnifex’s, and some treasures that are sure to come with the release of the new codex. Dare I say… Trygon?

This brings me to three armies that I have back logged to do, the others being my Ultramarines and my Imperial Guard. I think I need a break from life to catch up on these.

The Mega Post… Moonscape Finished

2009-09-28T22:33:00.001-04:00

I finished up my first set of Moonscape craters tonight. I have to say… The results are better than anticipated.

I wanted these to match my Realm of Battle Gameboard so I opted for the blasted dirt look rather than the gray up heaved bed-rock scheme. The colours are those used in the Citadel Scenery Pack and the edges were textured using the Vallejo Black Lava. Here’s a picture of them sitting on my desk after being primed. The Black Lava does a nice job to cover up those horrid and unsightly flat edges.

After priming them black I used the Citadel spray gun and applied on a nice even coat of brown over the whole crater. I then used a large flat drybrush to make the black blast area in the center and then drybrushed Ochre brown over the outer edges. Finally I applied Devlan Mud wash to the deepest crevasses.

Here are some other projects that I am slowly working on. Three tanks for my Space Marine army. I’ve not done much other than prime them and use the spray gun to give them a coat of Mechrite Red, but it’s a start.

My most recently painted Space Marine squad got their decals and were designated tactical squad no. 10.

I assembled my Shrine of the Aquila. Honestly, I had forgotten I bought the thing. I was under the bed pulling out some paints and such for the Moonscape and there it was. I’ll most likely paint it up to match the picture on the box, but somehow tie it in to the rest of my buildings. The Shrine is HUGE… Frosty the Snow Marine gives you size comparison.

Well, I’m afraid that’s all for now. Thanks for stopping by. Cheers! :)

The Golden Aquila Rating System

2009-09-18T14:58:00.004-04:00

I've posted a few product reviews where I summarize the product with a rating measured in golden Aquila's. The ratings are from zero to five and go in half Aquila increments. I figured it would be nice of me to offer the images I use for download. This way anyone who would like to make reviews of anything pertaining to the 40K universe can do so in style. ;)

- Download The Golden Aquila Rating System -

Magnetized Predator Sponsons

2009-09-13T13:09:00.001-04:00

I magnetized the sponsons on my Predator about a week ago. I finished assembling it and then primed it black before realizing that I had not made a blog post about it. It’s a bit late to really give a proper walk through, but better late then never I suppose. My apologies if this all seems a bit confusing.

Fortunately magnetizing Predator sponsons is probably one of the easiest things to magnetize as there’s very little modification needed and no drilling necessary.

I started by clipping the off the flat extension that goes into the gun right below the block portion. A 1/8” magnet fits perfectly onto its surface.

I then cut a little piece of 1/8” thick plasticard to fill in the gap where the extension would have gone into the guns and glued another 1/8” magnet, centered on top of what was the hole. I chipped away some of the primer so you can see the magnet a bit better and if you look closely you can see the outline of the plasticard piece around it.

Doing it this way still allows for 180 degrees of rotation. It does however, prevent the gun from pointing up or down, but really, just how important is it that the gun be able to point up or down? In my opinion… It’s not important at all.

Using the 1/8” magnets was perfect because it placed the guns at almost the exact same height as the non modified part.

I did have the turret magnetized also, but it was rather flimsy so I’ll not bother going into detail how I did it. After some consideration I decided to just glue the twin-link lascannon into place. Honestly, I can not see myself ever using the autocannon and should I some day decide to… There’s always ‘counts as’.

Thanks for stopping by. Cheers!

Battle Foam Space Hulk Trays

2009-09-11T22:17:00.001-04:00

I got my Space Hulk trays from Battle Foam tonight and as soon as I could I put them to use. The trays fit very nicely into the Space Hulk box which I have to say is the nicest thing about them.

Model Tray – First, this tray is a must have for anyone that intends to paint the models. The model tray amazingly is able to fit all 12 Terminators and 22 Genestealers albeit very snugly, but this is to be expected. Trying to figure out what model goes where and how it fits can be a bit of a chore. Battle Foam does give you a black & white print out of where things go, but it’s a Xerox copy and is a bit tough to interpret. Once I figured it out I immediately took a picture with my cell phone so I’ll always have it handy, even if I travel to a friends house. If you’re masochistic and up for a puzzle challenge than you could try to figure it out on your own… Good luck if you try.

Some of the Genestealers at the very top stick up a bit, but nothing too bad. Once the box top is on it doesn’t matter.

Game Tray – The game tray is just as much a puzzle as the model tray. It took me a awhile to figure out how to arrange all of the pieces so that nothing came up to high and made the model tray stick out. Once everything was in place I again took a picture so I’ll have an idea of how to put it all back in. Oh yea, the larger than life Mission Status Display and books do not fit. They’ll need to be placed either on the very top or in between the trays.

What to look out for – Because the model tray has such tight tolerances, the Genestealers claws snag the foam. Over time I can see this being an issue as the foam will get shredded. The game tray (at least mine) had hair thin stands of glue all over the inner bottom portion where the corridor pieces go. I didn’t think much of it at first, but amidst my fumbling around trying to make things fit I found pieces sticking together. It was the glue and it did not come off, so be warned and be careful.

Conclusion – Despite the whole glue ordeal and knowing that eventually the Genestealers will not only tear the Terminators to bits, but also my model try… I give this product 3.5 Golden Aquila’s out of 5.

The New Tactical Squad - Finished

2009-09-05T11:00:00.001-04:00

Alas I have brought my Space Marine army back to its full strength. I completed the tactical squad that’s replacing what I’ve dubbed my ‘snow marines’. Not familiar with that story? Click here to check out Frosty and his friends.

I’ve decided that this squad isn’t going to directly replace the old one. I don’t want them to share the same fate or be damned by relation. This squad will be roman numeral X once I get the decals on. “But Chris, the title of the post says ‘finished’.” Ah, right you are and there’s a reason, all of which will be explained in a later blog post.

Without further rambling… On to the pictures.

Comments and criticism welcome. Thanks for stopping. Cheers!

The New Tactical Squad – Progress After the Mishap

2009-08-29T11:54:00.001-04:00

I’m not one to do ‘progress’ posts of incomplete model, but it’s been awhile since I’ve made an honest hobby post.

If you follow my blog you will know that recently I ruined an entire ten man tactical squad using GW’s Purity Seal. For those that missed that whole ordeal, you can read that post here… (clicky) It was a hard lesson to learn and one that I’ll surely never repeat.

I’ve devoted all of my hobby time to painting up another tactical squad to bring my Space Marine army back up to full force. The below pictures showcase their current state of completion.

In a way I’m actually happy that my last tactical squad got ruined. It has allowed me to really focus on the hobby and reminded me just how much I really do enjoy it, even when things go wrong.

Keep an eye out for the squads completion and thanks for stopping by. Cheers!

Motivational Post #5

2009-08-22T10:11:00.001-04:00

The weak will always be led by the strong. Where the strong cry out against fate, the weak bow their heads and succumb. There are many who are weak and many are their temptations. Despise the weak for they flock to the call of the Daemon and the Renegade. Pity them not and scorn their cries of innocence – it is better that one hundred innocents fall before the wrath of the Emperor than one kneels before the Daemon.

Motivational Post #4

2009-08-16T21:49:00.001-04:00

“To the darkness I bring fire. To the ignorant I bring faith. Those who welcome these gifts may live, but I will visit naught but death and eternal damnation on those who refuse them.”

When Good Models Go Bad

2009-08-08T21:30:00.001-04:00

It’s a mournful Saturday for me and my proud Space Marines…

Today was the day that my local GW hobby center was hosting Armies on Parade. I had intentions on attending to exhibit my army as well as get in a game or two, but to do such was not my fate. My entire army has not been matte varnished and I thought I should probably do so before showing it off. As you’ve probably already guessed and/or cringed… they frosted.

I did start with a test model that came out perfectly fine, so I proceeded to spray an entire squad of ten. All of my hard work ruined. The once brilliant red dulled and defaced. See the originals. I did recall a tip; to get rid of the frosting use rubbing alcohol. Big Mistake! The below is what rubbing alcohol will do. It exacerbates the issue ten fold.

There is actually two entirely different things which are both generally referred to as “frosting” and these occur in one of two ways. Cloudiness – After the varnish dries it takes on a cloudy or milky appearance. This is an adhesion problem. When the varnish does not properly cling to the model surface. Frost (above picture) – After the varnish dries it looks like it was just removed from a deep freeze. This is a surface issue where thousands of microscopic pits develop and refract light in all directions. This could be due to the surface the varnish was applied to or an uneven coat. To tell which is the case; take a clean brush with some clean water and go over the whole model. If the cloudiness does NOT go away than you have an adhesion issue. If the frosty look DOES disappear than it’s a surface issue. The water fills all of the microscopic pits to create a smooth surface that light can bounce off of in a single direction.

If you have an adhesion issue than I’m sorry to say, it’s time to get the Simple Green and start over. (Some have had success using rubbing alcohol to remove the cloudiness, but I strongly discourage this unless you have nothing to lose. See the above picture.) However, if it’s a surface issue you’re not entirely out of luck. To try and correct the surface issue you need to fill in all of those tiny pits. You can varnish the model again with a gloss varnish and then try a matte medium again or if the frosting isn’t too bad, you can try Microscale Industries Micro Flat.

Micro Flat is a liquid resin that dries crystal clear. It can fill those microscopic holes and help get rid of the frosty look. Here’s an example of a frosted Space Marine and then one I went over with Micro Flat.

Micro Flat does have a bit of a shine to it, but it’s not bad and could most likely be reduced if diluted with a bit of water. I painted the above model with Micro Flat straight out of the bottle. Micro Flat’s true design is actually a decal finisher. If you’ve ever used decals you’ll know that once dry they tend to have a close to gloss finish. Micro Flat can be applied to tone down the decals shine and seal it into place.

Unfortunately I’m still going to bin the whole squad that got frosted. So the next couple of days I”m going to be in full throttle hobby mode trying to pump out another tactical squad so I can get this army back onto the table top.

Motivational Post #3

2009-08-08T17:35:00.001-04:00

“Brothers! In opposing us, the foe has challenged our Chapter, our Primarch and our Emperor. Let us tech them the folly of their actions.”

Motivational Post #2

2009-08-01T10:14:00.001-04:00

Lead us from death to victory, from falsehood to truth.

Lead us from despair to hope, from faith to slaughter.

Lead us to His strength and an eternity of war.

Let His wrath fill our hearts.

Death, war and blood; in vengeance serve the Emperor in the name of Dorn!

And The Winner Is…

2009-07-28T08:06:00.002-04:00

Pedro Kantor by Joshua H.

Congratulations Joshua that is one fine model you have there. Thanks to everyone who participated you all did a fantastic job. :)

Motivational Post #1 - Imagination

2009-07-25T10:29:00.001-04:00

Currently the From the Warp blogger group is taking part in a collaborative post on motivation. My contribution to this got me thinking more in depth as to how I become motivated to paint, assemble, trim mould lines or any other aspect of the hobby that can sometimes become tedious or burdensome.

In my bit for the collaborative post I mentioned “eye candy”. Specifically all of the wonderful pictures GW puts in their literature, web site and complimentary publications such as White Dwarf. Looking at the beautifully crafted dioramas and fantastic art work really inspires and motivates me more than anything else, but why? What is it about the “eye candy” that really drives me to pick up my paint brush… Imagination.

It’s what draws us to the Games Workshop hobby from the very start. A world unlike anything else that we can submerse ourselves in. We’re almost like moths to the flame, but when that flame dies down and we loose motivation it’s as though our minds have gone dark and we can no longer see the way. We need to send up a signal flare, we need to spark the imagination again and in doing this we can find motivation.

Starting today I’m going to do my best to put up a weekly motivational post accompanied by an image to spark that imagination that will hopefully give all of us inspiration and ultimately motivation.

Warhammer by Jesse Jeremy

Thanks for stopping and if you feel so inclined please leave a comment about what motivated you on your most recent hobby project.

Imperial Bastion Stage-by-Stage

2009-07-24T20:34:00.000-04:00

Great looking Imperial Bastions in just four easy steps…

I picked up the Imperial Strongpoint the other day and was so excited I jumped right into it. I have to say that this set is amazing, both the bastions and the defense lines. You get tons of stuff and the detail on all of the pieces is incredible.

Step 1: After assembly and priming the bastion Chaos Black I used the Citadel spray gun to spray the entire bastion Catachan Green.

Step 2: Once dry I used the Large Flat Drybrush and went over the entire bastion with Camo Green. TIP: In this step when drybrushing the bastion make sure to get almost all of the paint off the bristles and use a circular motion to drybrush. Using a circular motion will eliminate streaks and really brings out the detail.

Step 3: Again, using my Large Flat Drybrush I picked out only the most prominent features of the bastion with Rotting Flesh.

Step 4: This last stage is two parts. I used my Large Drybrush (not the Large Flat Drybrush) to bring out the detail on the Heavy Bolter’s, as well as some of the other metal bits, with Boltgun Metal. Lastly I stippled some Chaos Black into the battle scars and called it finished.

I hope this little tutorial helps you get those bastions painted up and ready for games of Planetstrike. Comments and constructive criticism welcome as always. Thanks for stopping by and reading. Cheers!

Final Photos Are In, Time To Vote - Painting Contest

2009-07-20T19:55:00.002-04:00

All of these models are flat out amazing. Seriously, my hat is off to all of you. Thank you so much for participating and good luck. Voting is right above this post, entrants name and character labeled below each picture or group of pictures. With no further rambling I present to you the entrants final photos…

1. Gunnery Sergeant Harker | John G. from The Realms of Equinox

2. Colour Sergeant Jarran Kell | Alex B. from Terran Forge

3. Dark Angels Grand Master Azreal | Eric M. from The Manufactorum

4. Pedro Kantor | Joshua H.

5. Mad Dok Grotsnik | Andreas N. from Tower of Heroes

6. Eldrad Ulthran | Bill L. from Maunderings of a 40K Gamer

Voting is directly above all of this post. Feel free to leave comments for the participants and as always, thanks for stopping.

Sanctum Imperialis

2009-07-18T10:20:00.001-04:00

Despite my busy life I still manage to get things done every once in awhile. This is the third building to be assembled from the Imperial Sector box set. There’s even a fourth and enough bitz left over to do a small fifth, but I saved them to be combined with my 2nd Imperial Sector box. Enough rambling, on to the pictures…

I thought about doing the colour on this one a little differently than the others, but in the end decided to keep it the same. This decision was mostly influenced by the release of the new Shrine of the Aquila. I wanted to have at least one building in my set that stood out amongst all the others, so it could be easy identified as an objective. The Sanctum Imperialis was going to be that building, but no longer. The new Shrine of the Aquila will be better suited for the job.

Thanks for stopping by.

Pits Birthday Bash Giveaway - Progress Photo’s

2009-07-13T22:07:00.002-04:00

Alright… Below are the progress photo’s for the painting contest. I must say that all of these models are coming along very nicely and seeing these photo’s has gotten me very excited to see the final versions. The prize could easily be won by any of these entrants.

Gunnery Sergeant Harker | John G. from The Realms of Equinox

Colour Sergeant Jarran Kell | Alex B. from Terran Forge

Dark Angels Grand Master Azreal | Eric M. from The Manufactorum

Pedro Kantor | Joshua H.

Mad Dok Grotsnik | Andreas N. from Tower of Heroes

Eldrad Ulthran | Bill L. from Maunderings of a 40K Gamer

There you have it. Tell all of your friends and spread the word because it’s only one more week until final submissions and voting. Thanks for stopping by, and make sure to come back in a week. Cheers!

Battle Foam PACK 432 – Product Review

2009-07-10T21:07:00.001-04:00

After waiting exactly one month for my PACK 432 to show up… it showed up. Fridays really are the best day of the week.

My initial impressions were very good and remained good after looking the bag over thoroughly. The fabric is a durable nylon that should withstand a fair bit of use. There’s a hard shell on all sides of the bag in between the fabric, this gives it a very rugged feel and gives me a sense of comfort that my models are well protected. This bag has plenty of pockets to hold my gamming aids and dice too.

The large pocket on the front is big enough to hold a codex and the mini rule book and also your army lists.

One of the many great designs of this bag is how snugly it holds the foam, there’s very little room for movement. Again, this gives me a sense of comfort that my models are going to stay in place and not end up in a pool in the bottom of the bag.

My final thoughts on this bag is that it’s a great product. It’s a little pricy weighing in at $150.00 before shipping with the custom foam load out, but quality usually is expensive. I’m giving Battle Foam’s PACK 432, 4.5 golden Aquila's out of 5. The only reason I didn’t give a perfect 5 is because of the lengthy wait despite my foam selection being standard offerings.

Pits Birthday Bash Giveaway - Contest Participants

2009-07-06T23:01:00.002-04:00

First, I’d like to thank all of the participants, I really do appreciate you taking part in this contest. I’m sure we’re all going to see some spectacular models.

The participants and their entries are:

Gunnery Sergeant Harker | John G. from Realms of Equinox
Colour Sergeant Jarran Kell | Alex B. from Terran Forge
Dark Angel Grand Master Azrael | Eric M. from The Manufactorum
Pedro Kantor | Joshua H.
Mad Dok Grotsnik | Andreas N. from Tower of Heroes
Eldrad Ulthran | Bill L. from Maunderings of a 40K Gamer

This is a really good mix of special characters. I’m very excited to see who will win in the end. Progress photos are to be in by and posted on Monday, July 13th.

Basilica Administratum

2009-06-27T22:59:00.001-04:00

I managed to get another one of the Imperial Sector buildings completed today. I kept the same paint scheme and over all simplified design as the Manufactorum.

When I think of war torn buildings of the 41st millennium, I don’t envision many pretty or lavish colours. I think of of dark and bleak ruins that are haunting and eerie, especially given their gothic nature and design. This theme will be carried over to the next few buildings as well as the urban barricades and I hope that in the end it’ll all come together and make a really nice battle field.

Another Year Older, Another Year Wiser

2009-06-25T22:33:00.001-04:00

Today celebrates the one year birthday of Pit of the Oni. I can’t believe it’s already been a year. To celebrate Pit of the Oni turning one year old, I’ve decided to hold a friendly painting competition. What’s in it for you? How about a $50.00 Games Workshop gift certificate!

That’s right, $50.00, you didn’t read it wrong, I really mean $50.00 to spend on anything you want from the Games Workshop online store. What do you have to do? Here’s the details…

Paint any single special character from any Warhammer 40,000 race better than the competition then get everyone you know to vote for you and WIN!

Submit to me via email: Your name, your website if you have one and the special character you’re going to be submitting. I will be accepting entries up until July 6th, after that all entries will be turned away. I will then post all entrants and the character chosen to be submited to the contest. After one (1) week all entrants will be required to submit a photo of their progress which in tern will be posted. After one (1) more week all entrants will need to submit their final photo of their model and voting will commence. Finally after one (1) last week of voting a victor will be determined.

That’s a week to get your entry in, two weeks to get you entry painted and then a week of voting. I will reply to emails to verify entry, if you have any questions please email me. My email address can be found in my blogger profile, but here it is just in case: cmontis@gmail.com

Entry deadline = July 6th | Progress photo submission = July 13th | Final Submission and Voting beings July 20th | Winner Announced July 27th

This competition is on the honor system so please don’t submit photos of already painted models. I encourage everyone to enter and best of luck to you all.

Some Things In Life Are Far Too Funny

2009-06-23T21:32:00.001-04:00

I think this is my first non Warhammer 40,000 related post, but never the less this is just way too hilarious to not share. On with the story…

The wife piece and I just got back Sunday evening from a weeks vacation in Virginia. Monday morning was looming over our heads with that whole going back to work thing. Finally, Monday morning arrives and I’m at work when my cell phone rings. It was the wife piece. I answer and am instantly told in a distraught voice “My car shakes violently when I try to start it.” She ends up taking the bus.

Once I arrive home I inspect the car under the hood. I plainly see frayed wires in two locations, one of which is completely severed. Obviously this is the problem, but what on earth could have caused this? The mystery was left as just that, a mystery and I moved on to the fix. After splicing the two wires back together the car starts up and runs perfectly and I decide that I'll do a better fix the following day with some appropriate supplies.

The following day…

I lift the hood and… MYSTERY SOLVED!

This not so little groundhog decided to make a home for itself in the engine bay while we were away on vacation.

Manufactorum

2009-06-15T21:43:00.001-04:00

Here’s a nice change of pace. No Space Marines this post. Now that I have my Genesis Chapter painted up to a point I’m content with I’m turning my focus to working on the Imperial Sector buildings for my Realm of Battle Gameboard. I have four buildings assembled, based and primed, but they’ve been sitting on the side lines. This is the first I’ve completed…

I tried to keep this as simple as possible. I primed the whole building black > Dry brush Charadon Granite > Litely dry brush in a downward only motion Codex Grey. The base ruble piles are just left over bitz, cut up sprue and some basing sand. Colour scheme is the same as the buildings, but with areas painted Brown > Badab black wash to create some unevenness > Very lite dry brush Ochre. The rust was done with a mix of Brown + Blazing Orange mix heavily watered down followed by Fiery Orange also heavily watered down then finally hit with some Devlan Mud to better blend the colours, tone down the bright orange and create some unevenness.

Let me know what you think and as always thanks for stopping. Cheers!

Genesis Chapter Landspeeder

2009-06-13T22:12:00.001-04:00

Just as promised, here is my Genesis Chapter Landspeeder. Dealing death swiftly across the battlefield… before suffering a weapon destroyed result and becoming useless.

Yes, it is magnetized and you can find out how I did it here. You may notice some gaps in the assembly and there’s a good explanation for this. This particular landspeeder came from a 3rd edition box set that had been sitting / baking in a hot garage for years, so the bodies were warped pretty badly and gave me some fitment issues, but nothing I couldn’t handle. I made the best of it and overall I don’t think it came out to badly.

The paint scheme is still the same as all my other Genesis Chapter stuff so if you feel so inclined please look at some of my other units (clicky) and let me know what you think. Thanks for stopping. Cheers!

Simple Basing With Black Lava

2009-06-11T20:26:00.001-04:00

I decided to base my newly finished Genesis Chapter Landspeeder (which I’ll be posting this weekend) using a combination of the Black Lava and standard Citadel basing sand.

The picture above is the Black Lava painted onto the flying base with what I refer to as a duty brush. It’s a brush that I use for all sorts of miscellaneous tasks that I wouldn’t use a good brush for. After getting a nice coat of Black Lava on there I laid down some basing sand while it was still wet. I made sure to press the sand into the Black Lava a little to make sure it would be more secure and not just flake off once the Black Lava dried.

Here is the final product. No issues with the sand flaking off and no additional PVA glue needed (other than for the static grass). I think the combination of Black Lava and the basing sand makes for some very nice variance in textures. I added the static grass because the base seemed rather plain without it. Nothing special for painting this base… Bestial Brown > dry brush Bubonic Brown concentrating on the rocky areas > dry brush Bleached Bone concentrating on the more rocky areas.

Black Lava by Vallejo

2009-05-31T11:59:00.001-04:00

On my adventure to a new gaming store this weekend I was introduced to a new hobby product, Acrylicos Vallejo’s Black Lava. Black Lava is a thick black paste that contains small stone fragments and can be used for all sorts of rough textures.

I bought it up thinking it would be superb for doing terrain. While I was right, I got to brain storming of all the different things this amazing product could be used for. Eureka! Black Lava is the miracle product perfect for mud on tank tracks and model bases.

To the right is a picture of Black Lava painted onto a base. This was a slot base so I filled it with green stuff first and then used a large flat brush to coat the surface with the Black Lava.

After letting it dry for a good period of time. I moved on to painting. Vallejo suggest 45 minutes to several hours of drying time depending on thickness.

Here we have the final product. I actually like using the Black Lava a lot better than using traditional PVA glue and basing sand. Black Lava is quicker, easier and I think results in a much better base. Although, I bet that a combination of the two would make for some outstanding results.

In case you’re wondering how I painted the base: Paint Scorched Brown > Heavy dry brush Dark Flesh > Dry brush Bestial Brown sparingly to create unevenness > Dry brush Bubonic Brown > Dry brush Bleached Bone concentrating on only the highest points.

I highly recommend this product and I’m sure there are hundreds of uses for it. If I come up with anything else I’ll be sure to post. Thanks for reading.

Genesis Chapter Chaplain – My Personal Masterpiece

2009-05-28T21:33:00.001-04:00

Hi all, Oni here… and after weeks of devoting all of my hobby time to completing my Genesis chapter chaplain, my own personal best, I present it to you all now.

I love chaplains and I love this particular model so I decided to go all out and do it the best I could and I have to say, I’m very pleased with the results. I’m not going to type out a full how-to on this one like I normally do, there’s just far to much. If you’d like to know how I painted a particular aspect of my chaplain feel free to ask me in a comment and I’ll fill you in. Thanks for stopping by.

A Long Overdue Update

2009-05-18T21:11:00.021-04:00

I figured it was about time for an update. My time has not been idle in regards to miniature gaming. I have actually been inspired enough not only to complete my army, but to do so in a timely manner. I went to visit Oni, we played a couple games, spent too much money on GW products, and hit up Games Day. A great time was had overall.

First update is my greater deamon. I wasn't quite sure if I wanted one of these for my army, as I already have a DP that looks fierce. However, and I'm sure Oni can agree to this, this boy is worth his points! The idea came about when I was rummaging through my bits and found the GD of Nurgle's body and legs. When I made my DP, I had a lot of left over bits, so now it was just a matter of finding an appropriate head and arms. I was checking through my GW bits and found nadda. So I grabbed a box I keep around with bits from other ranges and found some old Vor minis, specifically the growlers. The Growlers head fit so nicely, but something was still missing. I found two more heads, belonging the the Growler pups, and figured I would make this a three headed beast of evil-ly goodness. The arms and hands are from the Growlers as well, with a moderate amount of GS added. Here are some WIP shots:

Now for a change, here are shots from some actual FINISHED models! I cranked a few of these out in record time to get ready for Games Day, such as the dread below. This dread was once in the AoBR box, waiting to be assembled to fight for the praise of the Emperor against all enemies of mankind. Then I came along. Just goes to show you, never count on anything in this game! The actual time it took me to complete this model is under two hours, from assembly to flocking. It might not sound like anything special to some, but that's a record in my book. Basically, just the dread with some Chaos-y goodness thrown onto it. No GS here. I may go back and redo the CC weapon in the future but for now, I think it looks good. On a quick side note, of all the games I have ever played, this dread has given me the most problems with the whole rage roll. I think I lose more games because of this little beast going berserk and killing my units (yes, units, and even once when it killed my Lord first turn) as opposed to my opponent. Maybe it still thinks it's imperial....

Next couple of shots are some Plague Marines I did up quick for Games Day. It took about three hours total for about nine of these guys once they were converted. The top three are Space Marines with added bits and GS applied. The one on top is my personal favorite.

These next pic shows a comparison of how I'm painting up the army. I choose to go with two color schemes as opposed to one just for some diversity. The color scheme on the left is done with Scorched Brown, drybrushed Bleached Bone, highlight Skull White with a Devlan Mud wash. The right one was done with Catachan Green, drybrushed Camo Green, highlight Rotting Flesh with a Devlan Mud wash. Cables were done with reds built up, and the metal is Boltgun caked with Devlan Mud. Two very simple schemes that look good, IMO.

This last little bit has nothing to do with my plague marines, but I thought I would throw it in here just because really. A friend asked me to paint up a wizard for her, so I gladly did. The reason I did this was to prove two things. First, I can still paint 'clean' (meaning when I'm painting nurgle-themed I have a tendency to get sloppy on purpose, because it's nurgle and that's how it is!) and second, I wanted to do a miniature fast, without drybrushing or any quick methods. The flames have about seven levels of highlights, everywhere else between three or four. So here's the results: Forty five minutes for this little pyro.

Thanks for any comments/suggestions in advance.

And Oni has yet to beat me in a game of 40K. So please, help him with his IG army. He needs it :P

~Grendel

Leaping Into Imperial Guard

2009-05-17T23:21:00.001-04:00

With all of the new Imperial Guard box sets that have been released along with their new and improved codex, I decided I wanted to try my hand at an IG army.

I purchased the codex when it had been released, but Saturday saw the release of the new Cadian Battleforce box set. I figured this would give me a good place to start building my army. I picked up two of them since the box really only gives you a single Troops choice, along with a Command Squad for an HQ and a Valkyrie. Eventually I’ll grab some tanks, most likely Leman Russ battle tanks and Chimera’s, but this should be good for now.

I’ve come up with a quick list, you guys will have to let me know what you think. Keep in mind that I’ve never commanded an Imperial Guard army before so any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Company Command Squad	150
Powerfist, Medi-pack, Regimental Standard, Vox-caster, Plasma gun, Carapace armour
Platoon Command Squad	70
Powerfist, Plasma gun, Meltagun
Infantry Squad	70
Vox-caster, Plasma gun
Infantry Squad	62
Bolt pistol, Meltagun
Heavy Weapons Squad	105
3x Lasscannon
Platoon Command Squad	85
Powerfist, Medi-pack, Heavy flamer, Flamer
Infantry Squad	65
Vox-caster, Meltagun
Infantry Squad	57
Bolt pistol, Grenade launcher
Heavy Weapons Squad	75
3x Heavy bolters
Armoured Sentinel Squadron	135
2x Sentinels, 1x Lascannon, 2x Smoke launchers
Valkyrie	125
Lascannon, Heavy bolters

Total:	999

Genesis Chapter Tactical Squad #2

2009-05-04T19:32:00.002-04:00

So I’m starting off May with a bang by completing Tactical Squad #2 of my Genesis Chapter. Just in time for Games Day. I feel like I rushed these guys, but no matter, I’m only aiming for a good table top quality. This squad much like squad #1 (here & here) are snap fit, but are from the Battle for Macragge box set. I found these guys on eBay for $20.00 so I couldn’t pass them up.

I tried a new flesh tone on the sergeant and used a different technique on the bases. For the skin tone I started with Dwarf Flesh like I normally do then did a wash of Ogryn Flesh, but then highlighted using Elf Flesh. I’m pretty happy with the results. As for what I changed about the bases… nothing more than using a heavy over-brush technique rather than dry-brushing. I also tried painting my Purity Seals Bronzed Flesh followed by Gryphonne Sepia wash and highlighted with bleached bone. I’m not as happy with the results so I’m going to stick to my old way... Starting with a Bleached Bone base.

You can find out my colour scheme(s) by looking at some of my other Genesis Chapter posts. (here)

I suppose after this I’ll move on to the half painted Landspeeder that’s been sitting around for a month. Comments and criticism welcome and thanks for stopping by.

They Just Keep Getting Better and Better

2009-04-25T10:46:00.001-04:00

- Download Large Roster Sheet -

I think you guys are really going to like this one. It’s a two page roster sheet large enough to fit the full Force Organization Chart plus space to fit six walkers, six vehicles and loads of weapons. IT GETS BETTER… as I have fixed all the bugs of past roster sheets – No more tabbing to the next box and ending up 3 lines down. BETTER STILL… the form allows for self fitting text – If there’s not enough room in the box just keep typing and the text will automatically resize itself to fit instead of scrolling to the right. Plus the second page has a Total Points box that will automatically add up your entries, saving you the hassle of figuring out what your points are at once everything is filled in.

Please let me know what you think and if you have any comments on how I can make it better. Duplex color laser printing really makes this Roster Sheet shine, but it is not necessary. Thank you stopping by.

- See and get other roster sheets here -

Extracting Backgrounds Quickly & Easily

2009-04-13T20:53:00.002-04:00

Not to long ago I made a post on Dakka Dakka about removing the background from an image using Adobe Photoshop. The more I thought about it the more I figured it would be nice to post it here as well. This particular tutorial uses version CS2, but applies to all versions 5.5 to present.

NOTE: If you are using CS4 you will need to install the ExtractPlus plug-in from the ‘Goodies’ folder located on the installation CD or download it from the Adobe website.

The Extraction Tool in Adobe Photoshop is a powerful tool that allow you to 'extract' a part of the image. Most commonly it's used for pulling out the primary object(s) from an image / removing the background.

Here's how it works...

Click Filter then Extract

This will bring up the Extract window. In here you will use the tools on the left in combination with the parameters on the right to tell Photoshop what part of the image you want to keep

Use the Edge Highlighter Tool on the left to highlight the edges of the section you wish to pull out of the image. You can define your Brush Size on the right. Adjusting the brush size helps Photoshop to better determine the 'edge' of what you want to keep. I like to turn on the Smart Highlighting feature as this makes it easier to highlight the edge and keeps the brush from straying if your hand isn't steady. Once finished it should look something like this...

Next use the Fill Tool to fill in the area you wish to keep. This again is telling Photoshop which part / side of that green highlighting you wish to keep. Make sure the green highlighting is completely closed or else the whole image will get filled.

Now click Preview. This will give you a preview of what the image will look like. You can use some of the tools on the left to clean up the image or use the Clean Up Tool while holding down the Alt. key to bring back something that was mistakenly cut out.

Once you're happy with the image click OK. This will take the extracted image and put it back into the main Photoshop window for further editing.

Now all that's left is putting in the background you want. Here's a quick example.

That's all there is to it. Enjoy! :)

Demon Prince Final

2009-04-09T21:04:00.007-04:00

Well, here it is. Still have to paint up the giant manreaper, but that is removable, and I have gotten some comments he looks better without it. Anyways, I think it's time to move on to another plague marine squad or even the dread. Hope you enjoy the pics!
~Grendel

Happy fun time with superglue!

2009-04-07T20:04:00.007-04:00

As posted, one of the many projects I am currently working on is the DP for my death guard army. IMO, death guard armies are one of the best to experiment with regarding conversions and new paint methods. For example, the DP has his guts exposed. I could just do the usual red but I wanted to add some more to it. Hence, the title of this post. You can do more with superglue than just hold stuff together. The intestine were sprayed with zipkicker and drizzled with superglue in some spots. I like the results:

I'm adding some wash to the whole thing in a bit, give the globs some nice red tint to it. And just for reference, I tried to be lazy and mix the wash with the glue before applying it to the innards. It formed some kind of gelatinous mass that lunged at me (actually that could have just been the fumes messing with me, I'm not sure). Enjoy!

~Grendel

P.S. Yes, there is a nasty mold line on the space marine helmet. That eyesore will be covered up in the future.

Some More Magnetic Joy!

2009-04-05T11:24:00.001-04:00

I’m back in gear with making some hobby progress. I had a little bit of down time, but now I’m all ahead full. Coming down the line there will be posts on scenery for my RoBG, bringing my Genesis Chapter up to strength as well as Grendel posting updates to his Death Guard, so keep an eye out.

On topic… Awhile back I posted a ‘how to’ on magnetizing a Razorback. This is a small extension of that post. Since I’ll be using my Razorbacks as Rhino’s as well I wanted to make the appropriate interchangeable parts.

This picture shows the mount on which I can place a Storm Bolter or a Hunter Killer Missile. Conveniently enough this mount can be flipped upside down when I’m using the model as a Razorback without any of those two options.

It’s so nice that the design of these bitz make it easy enough to magnetize for interchangeability. Here is the Storm Bolter. All I needed to do was use my pin vice to drill a small 1/16” hole in each side then press in the magnets. Of course taking care to line everything up and making sure my magnet polarities were correct.

This is the Hunter Killer Missile. This bit took a small amount of thought to figure out a good way to magnetize it, but again the overall design made it easy. I chose to place the magnet above the fitment stud as the plastic anywhere else was to thin to drill. I used the same size magnets, 1/16” diameter by 1/32” thick.

And the final results…

Thanks for reading! :)

I need FOCUS!!!

2009-04-03T20:12:00.008-04:00

Yeah, it's true. I do need to focus on one project before moving on to the next. I go with something for a bit, then have a bright idea, then I need to go with that idea, until something else tickles my fancy, then move on to that, and so on and so forth.......oh well.

I am making progress, albeit very slowly. I think I have solved my terminator dilemma. Me being me, I didn't really care much for the CSM terminator sculpts, plastic or metal. The imperial terminators were looking good, but then I had one of those ideas. I saw some fluff for the Death Guard involving the primarchs personal retinue, the Deathshroud. I really liked the look and wanted that for my chaos force. I grabbed a model that I thought was pretty close in resemblance, a Gray Knight terminator. Here's the results:

Second thing I've been working on are the actual plague marine squads. I have 2 metal plague marine squads, and I purchased a SM tact squad box. The tact squad is coming along nicely, with some odd bits and green stuff being worked into them. Here's the leader:

The demon prince is still being worked on as well, believe it or not. Painting is coming along, and I really can't wait to post the completed work. For the time being, here's another shot:

Actual proof that work is being done. In addition to the above works, I currently have 2 squads to paint, 3 rhinos, a dreadnaught, and whatever else may come up. Comments/suggestions welcome of course.

~Grendel

Magnetizing A Razorback: The Definitive How To

2009-03-22T16:45:00.008-04:00

With the 5th edition vehicle rules making the Space Marine Predator less than practical, what is a Space Marine player to do? Take Razorbacks, that's what! I grabbed two of them for my Genesis Space Marine chapter. I intend to use these not only as Razorback, but also as Rhino's as the kit will easily allow for both. The Razorback, like most every other vehicle gives you the bitz for various weapons load outs and that of course is where the magnets come in.

I wanted to magnetize the Razorback as easily as I could without having to purchase additional bitz. So I ended up doing most of the work right the turret mount.

I started by clipping off and smoothing out the pegs that the weapons normally mount to.

I then took two 1/8" diameter by 1/32" thick magnets and glued one to each side of the mount where the pegs had been.

Using the same sized magnets I was able to simply press them into the holes on the weapons where the pegs would have gone. It was quite convenient that the sizes matched up so perfectly.

A test fit to make sure everything lines up well and the magnets would in fact hold when positioning the guns.

Next I had to solve the issue of the armoured carapace that sits on top of the guns. I went ahead and magnetized it also. The magnets didn't need to be all that strong since the carapace just sits on top so I ended up using some smaller 1/16" diameter by 1/32" thick magnet. I simply used my pin vice with a 1/16" bit to make a hole in the bottom of the carapace and pressed in the magnet.

Subsequently I needed to give the armour carapace something to attach itself to. As you can see in this picture, using the same magnets and technique I placed two more small magnets into each of the guns. I also needed to trim off the little rail on each gun that the carapace normally fits onto.

And here is the final results. To switch out weapons I simply pop off the armour carapace remove each gun, snap in the new gun and replace the carapace.

An important note... Make sure to check you magnet polarities before committing to glue or pressing it into place. Thanks for stopping by and reading, I hope this post helps anyone who's trying to mag their Razorback. :)

What's On The Painting Table?

2009-03-19T23:22:00.006-04:00

A few days ago bigred over at Bell of Lost Souls asked readers "What's on your painting table?" Well, bigred (if you happen to read my blog) here's the current state of my painting table. I just finished up painting Mechrite Red on my Landspeeder and got out the Devlan Mud to give a good wash, but decided to call it a night. I had originally given myself a deadline of March 18th to have this thing finished, but I got distracted with making some scenery for my RoBG.

Some of my other hobby progress is in the picture below. I managed to put together most of the fist Imperial Sector box. There was a ton of stuff in that box. Far more than I expected. Eventually I'm going to put the buildings on some bases and make them more cinematic and of course paint them, but for the time being it's back to Genesis Space Marines.

Realm of Battle Gameboard - Final!

2009-03-15T13:09:00.007-04:00

Cue the music from Rocky and crack open the beers, my RoBG is complete. In this final stage I finished up all of the skull pits by doing an overbrush of Bleached Bone followed by a Badab Black wash and lastly a very light dry brushing of Skull White. I then laid down some of the scorched static grass from the GW scenery pack in small patches to try and compliment some of the existing terrain features.

Now all the board is lacking is some scenery; which will be remedied soon enough as you can see in the picture below as well as see what projects are to come.

Death Guard DP Take 2

2009-03-14T21:51:00.010-04:00

More work on the DP! Started work on the scythe, but nothing really to brag about. Comments/suggestions welcome of course.

~Grendel

Death Guard Daemon Prince WIP

2009-03-12T02:25:00.008-04:00

It's been a while since my last post, but I have been busy with my army. I have a squad of plague marines just about ready to go, and alot of other mini's primed and ready for the brush. In the middle of all this, I got sidetracked a bit with this bad boy.

I have no problem with GW's nurgle prince. I think it looks really awesome, but can't really do much with it. Throw wings on it....meh. I wanted to make my own just for the sake of having something unique. The new forgeworld model, in my opinion, lacks in alot of areas. So I started this conversion up, consisting so far of a older greater demon box (with the wide mouth head), the balrog box, and some bits from the chaos vehicle sprue.

In the end, this model is going to have two weapons. The plague sword is already on, but I really want this guy to have a manreaper, too. I will definitely post the finished work when it's done, and comments/suggestions are always welcomed. Thanks!

~Grendel

New and Improved Roster Sheet

2009-03-06T20:49:00.000-05:00

- Download the New Army Roster -

OK everyone, I have a real treat for you today. I decided to give the old Army Roster a face lift along with some much needed improvements. In this revision I added a place for walkers, increased the space for 'weapon type' and removed the 'points' column under weapons. I also made it an editable PDF Form so you can type in all your stuff before you print it out. I did have to make some sacrifices to fit in the new walker section, but I don't think it's anything that will be missed... mainly I took out some weapons lines. Please feel free to give me suggestions on improving it. Enjoy!

Update: The issue of not being able to save the file using Adobe Reader has been resolved.

- See and get other roster sheets here -

Happy Fun Time With Magnets

2009-03-04T22:28:00.010-05:00

Happy fun time dealing a fist full of death that is... and doing it with options makes it just that much better. So here's my latest project - a Landspeeder for my Genesis chapter of Spacemarines. I couldn't decide if I wanted the Heavy Bolter or the Multimelta. So I decided on both and to try my hand at using magnets.

I used 1/16" diameter by 1/32" thick Neodymium magnets. Better known as 'rare earth magnets' even though they're anything but rare. I bought mine from a local PA company K&J Magnets. Just $6.00 landed me 100+ of these things.

It didn't take much to do really. I used my pin vise with a 1/16" bit to drill a small hole and pressed the pin in. Surprisingly it didn't need glue as the magnet was pretty snug despite the magnet and hole having the same diameter. One thing I learned the hard way... be sure the magnet polarities match up before pressing it in.

Realm of Battle Gameboard - Stage Three

2009-03-02T21:15:00.004-05:00

I'm heading down the home stretch getting ready to cross the finish line.

In this stage I drybrushed Fortress Grey onto all of the rocks and cliffs, but only on the edges and on the top, leaving the edge up against the brown darker. Using the 2" brush from the scenery painting pack I proceeded to drybrush the entire table less the rocks and cliffs Ochre until my back hurt. Seriously! Once finished I went back with a large flat dry brush and did some further highlighting around the rocky areas and skull pits. I then overbrushed Bleached Bone on all of the skulls and followed it up with a wash of Badab Black.

What's left? Well... I'm going to give the skull pits one last highlight and then lay down some patches of the scorched static grass from the scenery painting pack. The excitement is killing me... and so is my back so I'm gonna go lay down. Cheers!

Realm of Battle Gameboard - Stage Two

2009-02-26T19:59:00.006-05:00

Almost there! The second stage of my RoBG is complete. I must say, this thing takes a load of work. I never thought I'd have to put so much into it, but no matter, it will all be worth my efforts in the end.

In this stage I did a heavy over brushing of Codex Grey on all of the rocky parts and payed close attention to the flatter more rock like rocks... if that even makes sense. The tile in the bottom middle and the features like it to the right and left of it are what I'm referring to. Anyway... After over brushing the rocks I then went back with the Brown paint found in the Citadel Scenery Painting Pack and went around the edges of the rocks to cover up where the grey had gone just a bit too far.

A Wiser Man Than Myself...

2009-02-25T16:07:00.002-05:00

I want to touch on a subject that World’s End Radio discussed not too long ago. After listening to the Podcast it reminded me of something someone once told me.

“Seconds add up to minutes and minutes add up to hours.”

I’m not entirely sure why I remember this, it’s not exactly life changing advice or insightful. What it is however is logical and logic I can appreciate.

If you’re like me, you have a lot of demands on your time, leaving little left over to devote to the hobby. Further more, the free time I can put into the hobby I want to use for game play. As you very well may know or have guessed, these things add up to model painting being placed on the back burner and this is where the above quote comes in.

I make it a point to compose some form of hobby progress each and every night. No matter how small or large of an effort it may turn out to be… I do something. Some nights I may get to spend 5 minutes painting, assembling, or trimming mould lines. Other nights I may actually be able to sit down for an hour and put a good dent in completing my next squad or vehicle. The idea here is that all of my progress no matter how minuscule will eventually add up to something larger and ultimately completion.

Don’t let painting and modeling feel like a chore. If you allow this to happen then you’re defeating yourself and the 40,000 hobby. (World’s End Radio)

Genesis Chapter Tactical Squad - Post 2

2009-02-17T18:37:00.003-05:00

Tactical Squad Lucius of the Genesis Chapter 2nd Company

The last installment of my Genesis Chapter tactical squad - at least the first one anyway. Oh yes, there will be more. I got my hands on the marines from the Macragge box set for a cool $20.00. So with the completion of this tactical squad, all of the marines from my AoBR box are painted. WOOHOO! I'm not sure what I want to start next. My Landspeeder or the next tactical squad. Right now I'm leaning toward the Landspeeder just to change things up. So keep an eye out, subscribe, follow... do what ever you need to do because there's definitely more coming.

Thanks for reading and as always all comments are welcome and appreciated.

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