First go at some Forgeworld shoulderpads

I got some Forgeworld shoulderpads for my terminator squad. I'm going to make a mixed unit, part Space Wolves, part Salamanders, part my own chapter.

What you see in the picture is the first go at the Space Wolves shoulderpads. I still need to clean it up a bit in order to make it final, but I'm pretty happy with the result. The only thing I'll do differently is go straight for silver metal rune plates instead of what I did here. I tried to make them gold, but then I realized that the contrast will be quite weak (hence the brown rune writing).
If those were normal pads, I would go again with the color over them, but as the rune writing is so thin, another layer of any paint might ruin it forever.

Deffkopta squad done

I've painted this Deffkopta squad as a gift for a friend. They're not as detailed as the other deffkopta that I previously posted, having only 3 layers in average per surface in comparison with 5 for the solo kopta. The props are all magnetized and interchangeable. Here's how they look.



The main problem was that these guys were painted with a time constraint, summing up to some 6 hours for all 4 of them, that's why they could use some work. But oh well.. he's gonna finish them if he wants :)

Deffkopta done :)

Tried my hand on a deffkopta model, painted in the same vein as the other ork. Here's the result:

Nob done

I have finally finished the nob. It's a great model and I recommend anybody who collects them to take their time and paint them properly.

I did not do the base, because this is a model that belongs to a friend and I have no clue how he's gonna base his nob squad.

Enjoy :)

Ork nob part 1

I got an ork nob from a friend to make some color tests on it. It's gonna be a Goff nob, but there's still a lot of work to be done on him. So far the green skin and leather clothes are done, but I'll finish it soon.

1 Year of space marines

Hi guys,
I just thought to put up a small sum-up of my miniature painting that started , well, one year and a half ago. But since I took a break off painting for 4-5 months , it's pretty much on the 1 year mark. So, here's what I've got painted so far:


HQ:
1 Librarian (converted from a regular space marine)
1 Jump Pack Chaplain
1 Captain

Troops:
3 Tactical Squads and some change (33 Tac marines)
1 Scout squad (4 Snipers 1 Heavy Bolter)
Fast attack:

1 Assault Marine squad (10 Marines)
Heavy Weapons
1 Devastator Squad with all weapons options (6 Marines)

Vehicles
1 Drop pod
4 Rhino Chassis , 3 of which are magnetized and can be fit with Predator sponsons and turrets
All the weapons options for predators magnetized (main guns, sponsons bot heavy bolters and lascannons)
Door sets for the Rhino chassis just in case I don't use them as Predators.

Here are some detailed shots of everything:

These are my first painted marines. The one in the right with the double plasma pistols is my first model. As you can see, there is not much unity in these guys, mainly because on each one I tried a new painting technique and then decided to stop in order to have a summary of what went well and what didn't. Also, these are mostly AoBR marines, with a few exceptions.

This is my assault squad, 5 of the marines have some green stuff work on them in order to create some jetpack flames. The chaplain in the middle was my first painted metal model and helped me change the techiques I have been a lot, mainly because I didn't want to mess it up :). Here's a close-up of the model.


Following is the squad where I finally decided on a proper color scheme for my army. These guys were made also to stand in for a Sternguard squad in case I ever need one.

Next is another tactical marine squad that I painted because I needed some extra marines for games. This is also the first squad that I used edge highlighting on.


This scout squad provided a much welcome break from the standard armored space marines and gave me the opportunity to learn about cloth and painting faces. On the snipers I have made extensive use of drybrushing and washes to give the clothing a somewhat natural look. It went ok for most of them.
On the heavy bolter scout I tried to use layers to create a more realistic face, instead of using washes and drybrushing as before, and it paid off.

In the next picture we have a sergeant for the sternguard/tactical squad and my librarian conversion. The sergeant has one of my first good face painting jobs , following the example of the heavy bolter scout.


The librarian is a conversion on which I used all kinds of cloth, leather and scrolly looking bits. He was painted using several layers of paint , especially on soft surfaces such as skin and cloth. The Ripper that's lying dead there is also painted using several layers and lots of color mixes.

Heavy weapons are always fun, because they are huge, are easy to assemble and you can paint them in all kinds of ways. For the weapons I tried various effects such as highlighted or glowing wires, glowing plasma exhausts, etc.
Also, these models is where I started to freehand my chapter logo on the shoulderpads. Following this squad I have went over older models and put logos on their shoulders.


On to the vehicles, this is my first painted and assembled Rhino. It has some assembly problems, but much of them have been covered through painting. This model is the only non-magnetized chassis that I have. All others can be converted into a Predator.
The hatch tactical symbol is painted by using masking for the arrow with a brush over sticky tape.


This chassis was completed long after the 1st one. Here I used my chapter colr scheme, and I finally stopped fumbling with colors painting large surfaces. This is the first model that I weathered with mud using several layers of brown colors, technique that I applied on all my other vehicles.

The following 2 pictures are my latest rhinos/predators. I tried to use several new techniques, such as nmm , minor plasticard conversions. I tried to do some hazard stripes on the extra armor plating but I failed miserably, so I decided to make them all black and spam some decals :)


And last, but not least, the drop pod. It's the single most difficult to paint model that I had to do so far (I have 2 land raiders to assemble though, so it might get knocked down to 2nd place ). The plastic is of amazing quality, everything fits almost without gluing stuff and it also requires a great deal of attention during the last assembly phase.


And this is it :) I hope you enjoyed it.

Rhinoes part 2

A small update on the rhinos/tanks. I've finished painting the big surfaces, metallics, washed in the details and did some minor cleanup. Also, I've tried my hand a bit on some NMM for the custom doors and the tank turret.

Next up: tanks/rhinoes

For the next project I started working on something that I've neglected for a while, my two Rhino/Predator chassis. I've assembled and magnetized the main guns and side sponsons a long time ago , but never got to paint them properly. Also, I've done some minor conversion work on the rhino and doors with the use of plasticard (long live!)
This is how everything looks in its current stage, and it will look better in the future.


Enjoy(tm)

Drop pod DONE

Finally, after about .. I don't have any idea how many hours .. I've finished the drop pod.


BEHOLD!

I'm so very glad it's over :) Not much to say about it except.. enjoy :)

Drop pods ahoy!

I got a new transport in the mail today that had 2 Drop Pods and a Land Speeder Storm, so I quickly tried to assemble one part of the drop pod, namely half of the interior. Much to my surprise, I failed to see some of the hints that the assembly guide showed me, such as gluing the panels on the top turbine upside down :) Oh well, now I'll have to live with a little strange drop pod.
One nice thing about the drop pod is the turret mount. That should not be glued to the rest of the turbine, because it can be fit with 2 weapons and it can rotate freely. Combine that with a spiral pattern on the turbine head and it should make for a great showpiece :)

Also, I have a few ideas how to magnetize the weapons to make the pod even more flexible (not that anyone would actually USE a Deathwind launcher , but still)

Devastators squad done

Here are my devastators and the rest of the marines that I needed for my list. Heavy weapons are a bit "harder" to paint than normal bolters and handguns, because of their large surfaces and the need to cover them in more than one color unless you want them boring.

Here's the final result.



and some full frontal shots :)

Devastator squad in progress

After a week or more of not touching a model, here's a small work in progress shot of my devastator squad. The armor including highlights is pretty much done, however there are still some minor touch-ups to do here and there. Weapons are also WIP, but not much work has been done on them apart from metallic brushing and washing.

Warmachine forays

I've been working a bit on the warjack arms that come with the battlebox. I believe I'm quite ready with the red part over there, but I guess I'll try and to an extra layer of highlights for the Khador Highlight color, because at its current state it will blend perfectly after varnish is going to be sprayed on. I've cleaned up all the non-red parts with Thamar Black , and the next stage will be to paint the metallic pieces and make them look good.

Also, in the image above you can see my first attempt at non metalic metals on the bombard cannon arm.

The Warmachine planner has been updated with some minor fixes regarding field allowance (Fenris, Zerkova, Gun Mage Adept, Yuri the Axe) as well as made the epic versions of characters to exclude the non-epic from the list and the other way around.
Hordes factions and minions are also complete , so you can plan out your Warmachine AND Hordes list on the same page.
I'm considering some interface improvements but they will have to wait a bit because of some unexpected developments in a very important project I'm working on. I have also added a link to the Warmachine planner on the right navigation bar, right below the BOLS mini-banner.
Closing the Warmachine section, if you have any suggestions for the planner or spot any inaccuracies in the unit prices, field allocation values , etc don't hesitate to send me a message here or comment on the blog.


On the 40K front I'm seriously considering getting a couple of Land Speeders Storm to make a strong 1000 point list. Won't use them both at the same time, but still.

Librarian replacement done

Finally, after severe slacking in the painting department I have completed the librarian. I've also added added a small ripper to the base, just to make it look different.

First terrain piece completed

Here's my first terrain piece. It's a bunker made out of a Warmachine blister, plasticard, and some green stuff.

Pseudo-librarian update

Here's the body almost done for my replacement standard librarian. It still needs way more scrolls and tabards , but I'll get there. Also in news is a brief appearance of his faithful servo-skull.



Enjoy

The missing models and road ahead

Here are the some of the models that I've been missing. The center guy, which is 50% done will stand in for the normal librarian, other guys are the devastator team, 2 extra rocket launchers, one terminator librarian and some AoBR marines that somehow eluded me ;)

750 Points list and missing models

I've been trying to build up a 750 point army that should be able to fend for itself in most situations, and, after discussing with a number of people that brought some valid points here is what I got:

• Librarian - 100pts
• 4x Scout Snipers +Heavy Bolter +Camo cloaks 100pts
  
• 10xTactical marines +Flamer +Missile launcher +Meltabombs - 175pts
• Rhino - 35pts
• 10xTactical marines +Meltagun +Plasma Cannon + Meltabombs - 185pts
  
• Dreadnought (Melta and CCW) with extra armor 120pts

Grand total: 750 pts

As it turns out I'm missing some stuff, but I shall fix it! See what's missing:

• Dreadnought - Still need to paint this.
• Meltagun marine - I wasted my melta gun on one of my commanders so I now have to build another marine and find a melta for it.
• Plasma cannon - the good news is I have assembled 6 marines from my devastator box, but it needs paint as well :D
• Librarian - I'm gonna make a librarian out of a regular marine but give him a paint job to stand out and SCROLLS. The base model is done and it should look good once it's painted, plus it's gonna be a test subject for my terminator librarian marine :)
  

Assault squad done and army update

Here's the last part of my assault squad. I've done the jetpack flames in a somewhat different way, trying to keep the darker portions of the flame between the beginning and the end of it. It was also much faster since the layering wasn't as complicated as the first flames. You can see in the picture below the new flame (left) versus the old one (right) at the two marines in the center.


Also, this just in! ARMY PIX! A brief sum takes this to about 1400 points. I still have one battleforce to assemble and paint as well as a Librarian, Predator, 2 Land Raiders , a Devastator and a Terminator close combat squad which would bring everything past 2500. Wish me luck! ;) Oh and sorry for the dust.. I've been living in a construction yard for the past month or so.

Assault squad & Khador

Here's half of my assault squad with the chapter logo freehanded on the left shoulder.




Also, some work in progress Khador. So far only the reds have been done. Much more work needs to go into them :)