Black Crusade 2012 - Winner and Final Total

The winner of a gigantic Warhammer 40K Chaos Space Marine army and some other goodies is:

Scott Kunian from the United States!

 

To all the others who did not win: Thank you for your support! You are awesome people!
The Black Crusade 2012 succeeded in collecting a total of

3426 $

for the Jack Vasel Memorial Fund! Thank everybody who contributed!

Black Crusade 2012 - Plague Marine Second Squad

Here are the second squad of 8 Plague Marines for the Black Crusade Charity Draw created by Michael from The Resurected Hobbyist.

To reiterate the previous post these models are were very "battle scared" I only hope my painting has done them justice. Michael envisaged these marines to be battle scared and to look like they have scavenged bits and peices from the battle field. Personally I think with the modelling and parts used he has really pulled this off.

When painting these models I took a couple of tracks and have manged I think to combine them quite well. Firstly the green and rotten colours that we associate with Plague Marines of all stripes. Second I wanted the battle damage to stand out went with a nice contrasting rust colour to show the damage more clearly. Finally I wanted these to be Plague Marines, not Death Gaurd but good old honest Plague Marines. More importantly I wanted to tie them in with the the Black Crusade and the Black Legion, so as a result the vast majority are sporting black shoulder pads in homage to that shared legion. Hopefully all this combines to give the units a coherent but uniquie look for the winner.

so on with the pictures and please feel free to comment on the second Squad:

so there you have it, the second squad and hope the pics give you a good idea of what the models are like, any questions or comments please feel free to leave comment on any of the posts.

Black Crusade 2012 - Plague Marine First Squad

Hi folks as you no doubt know if you are a regular follower the 16 Plague Marines are finally completed and ready to ship out for the Black Crusade Charity Draw and yesterday I promised your more pictures of the models so here they are.

The 16 Plague Marines were created by Michael from The Resurected Hobbyist and were very "battle scared" I only hope my painting has done them justice. Michael envisaged these marines to be battle scared and to look like they have scavenged bits and peices from the battle field. Personally I think with the modelling and parts used he has really pulled this off.

When painting these models I took a couple of tracks and have manged I think to combine them quite well. Firstly I wanted to keep the green and rotten colours that we associate with Plague Marines of all stripes, I combined this with the corroded and weathered silvers that give the models a dirty look. Second I wanted the battle damage to stand out and show how ruined the armour is, so then I went with a nice contrasting rust colour to show the damage more clearly and to get some more colour in to them. My final plan was I wanted these to be Plague Marines, not Death Gaurd but good old honest Plague Marines. More importantly I wanted to tie them in with the the Black Crusade and the Black Legion, so as a result the vast majority are sporting black shoulder pads in homage to that shared legion. One or two models have Imperial Markings, theres a Wolf, Blood Angel and Ultramarine in there, to show Marines that have fallen from grace and have joined the band as roving Plague worshippers. Hopefully all this combines to give the units a coherent but uniquie look for the winner.

so on with the pictures and please feel free to comment on the first Squad:

 

Finally a quick apology, I am in the middle of moving so havent being able to get decent pictures, I only hope I can speak nicely to the winner and get some new pictures from them :)

Black Crusade 2012 - The End Is Nigh

Just a short reminder, you have just over 24 hours to make further contributions to the Black Crusade 2012!

They will take down the PayPal button at 12 AM EST on thursday, 30th of September!

Check it out at Black Crusade 2012! Go on, Go, Go, GOOOO!!!!

Black Crusade 2012 - Plague Marine Models Special Preview

Well folks they are finally complete in all their corroded glory!

 

That's right, the 16 Plague Marines are finally completed and ready to ship out for the Black Crusade Charity Draw as a little something for my followers I thought I would share a sneak peek of the finished beasties with you tonight, prior to more in depth and detailed pictures tomorrow. The 16 Plague Marines were created by Michael from The Resurected Hobbyist and were very "battle scared" I only hope my painting has done them justice.

 

So with out further ado I give you Squad Pestilence and Squad Bilious:

 

 

Not the most revealing I know but there are some bits and peices I want to suprise folks with. Pop back tomorrow for more pictures, info on what I aimed for and the thoughts I had as I painted these guys.

 

Also remember there is still time to head over and contribute to Black Crusade Charity Draw before it closes, only 48 hours left so head on over and contribute, not only will you be supporting a great cause but you could even win these models and many more besides.

 

Thanks and hope you folks like what you see so far.

Black Crusade 2012 - Plague Marine Models Pictures

Hi Folks,
well I am back from the Olympics and I return to a great big parcel containing the model I am due to paint for the Black Crusade 2012 charity event. As you may know I originally mentioned my participation in this event sometime ago, well time has finally come to step up to the mark!

For those of you unaware Black Crusade 2012 follows in the footsteps of Heroes of Armageddon and the Storm Lords projects by creating an army (or series of armies) with units from different bloggers around the web and then sells tickets to be drawn to see if you can win that army, plus there are weekly prizes along the way, more information can be found here: http://blackcrusade2012.blogspot.co.uk/

So as you can guess from this I am not the only individual working on this project and in this case I am not the only person working on these models. The 16 Plague Marines I am due to paint arrived today and were created by Michael from The Resurected Hobbyist here: http://40kressurected.blogspot.co.uk/ and to give you guys an idea of whats coming here are some pics of them:

As you can see some pretty unique and nasty looking models there. Given that these are my first Chaos Marines, and most undoubtedly my first Nurgle based models, painting these is going to be a whole new experience for me. Apologies for the basic pictures but I didnt want to give too much away until I can get some paint on them.

On a side note after taking the pictures of these guys for the blog on my phone I was rather disturbed to plug it in and discover this little nugget:

So after that little nudge from the Chaos Gods I'm looking forward to making a start and seeing what people think of the models and my efforts to do them justice.
Thanks and please check out the Black Crusade 2012.

Black Crusade 2012 - Charity Project

Hi Folks,
time for a cross post from http://blackcrusade2012.blogspot.co.uk/ and the launch of the 2012 charity project. this is a direct link from their site so please forgive me but this is definately something to take not of:

###############################################

2012 – The Black Crusade

Hello everybody and welcome to the Black Crusade 2012!

Over the next weeks, we will build and paint a massive Warhammer 40K Chaos Space Marine army just to give it away in a big raffle!

This year we decided that all contributions will benefit the Jack Vasel Memorial Fund, a charity that provides financial assistance to members of the public who are part of the gaming community and who have suffered personal hardship.

How does it work? Every dollar you contribute gives you a chance to be the lucky new army winner at the end of this drive. 10 dollars contribution =10 chances to win. 100 dollars = 100 chances... you get the idea.

In short: the more you contribute, the better your chances. More importantly, the more you contribute, the more you help to make the world a better place.

At the end of the drive, on August 10th, we will choose and announce the winner.

And of course we will have additional give-aways of all kind of gaming related goodies for you! The winners of those prizes will be drwan form everybody who donated tot hat point, so get your lots in early!

We will start to accept contributions on Monday, June 11th.

You want to do more?
Well, the more support we get, the better our army will be and the more money we can collect!
Beside contributing there are some other easy ways to support the Black Crusade:

- Spread the word!
Just talk about us. That's the most important part at all. The more people know about the Black Crusade, the more success it will have. Tell all your friends, talk about the Black Crusade on you favorite forum or post it on your blog!

- Become a sponsor!
We are still looking for donations for the army and for the weekly give-aways. No matter f you are a fellow hobbyist or a store owner, please just contact us under blackcrusade2012@gmail.com!

- Contribute to the army!
For the next couple of weeks we will consider offers to actively help us building the army. Everything from a single character to a Warlord Titan is welcome! Again,the bigger the army, the more success the Black Crusade will have. Golden Demon winners preferred :)

Again, just contact us under the email address above. to help us and feel free to ask any further questions.

Thank you for considering

###############################################

more details, action and the chance to donate and enter can be found here. I have already made my donation, have you?

Snuff - Book Review

Snuff by Terry Pratchett
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a policeman taking a holiday would barely have had time to open his suitcase before he finds his first corpse.

And Commander Sam Vimes of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch is on holiday in the pleasant and innocent countryside, but not for him a mere body in the wardrobe. There are many, many bodies and an ancient crime more terrible than murder.
He is out of his jurisdiction, out of his depth, out of bacon sandwiches, and occasionally snookered and out of his mind, but never out of guile. Where there is a crime there must be a finding, there must be a chase and there must be a punishment.
They say that in the end all sins are forgiven.
But not quite all...

Everybody knows that Terry Pratchett writes funny books - that's just part of modern English folklore. But it needs to be pointed out that they also contain real and deep profundities that ought to move you.


Get past the fact that his characters are frequently not as highly-dimensioned as your average human being - but no less-dimensioned than your average cartoon character. Get past the fact that the plots and morals are painted in the broadest brush-strokes and the simplest colours. Get past the fact that the tropes being used border on the clicheed. These are just the templates that Terry Pratchett uses in order to semaphore his message. And it needs to be said that his novels are not-so-heavily-disguised morality plays.

It has often been said that the purpose of fiction is not to preach a message, but to entertain. However, it may be suggested that TP is allowed to do both. The morals are obvious, the characters are transparent and the plot is to a certain extent predictable. What is far from predictable is the path he uses to get there, or the scenery (physical and moral) that you see on the way.

Without giving any more away than has already been divulged, the book reads as a metaphor for the socio-political climate of Britain in the early nineteenth century. As such, the "morphic resonances" are closer to the surface than they are in many of his other novels, and the usual jokes and parodies abound as usual. However, you have to wait till the last page to find out why the family of five eligible spinsters with no penny to their name have the surname "Gordon" (and probably have to know British English to get the joke). Subtler is the discussion (in an apple orchard) of the philosopher from a couple of centuries earlier, who is referred to as "Woolsthorpe". Even more subtle is the fact that the name of the tobacconist who acts as the key into the tobacco smuggling racket has the first name "Wilberforce".

Many of the usual Watch characters have bit parts, but this is mainly Sam, Sibyl, Young Sam and, sharing the stage with Sam on more-or-less equal billing, the delightful Willikins. All of this comes together to create a real gem and a great addition to discworld series. A right rollicking 5 stars from me for this brilliant book.

Available from:

http://www.play.com/
Terry Pratchett
Hardback • ISBN 9780385619264

Storm Wardens Space Marine Project!

Storm Wardens Space Marine Project?
So whats all this about I hear you cry? what is the Storm Wardens Space Marine Project?

Well until I started re-blogging I hadn't heard of it either, though now I have I'm glad. The Storm Wardens Space Marine Project is a fan based project consisting of a number of bloggers from around the Internet working together to produce something unique!

The Project is to build a Storm Wardens army, with each individual blogger contributing a number of models or units to the force.

For some more background ++From The Warp++ has this to say:

The Storm Wardens are a new Space Marine chapter from the yet to be released Death Watch RPG. Together with Games Workshop, Fantasy Flight Games (Horus Heresy, Wings of War) has been developing the game which will be released this summer.

Sounds cool I hear you say, there will be some awesome pics out there in the blogs and some nice models but what else does this do for me? Well here's the clincher:

The end result will be an incredible painted army going to one of you!

That's right one of you could not only win an awesome piece of original art from the guys at GW and FFG but you could also win the whole army! The project is a great idea and has some awesome painters and modellers working on it.

So please, please, please head over to ++From The Warp++ to check out progress and get links to the other bloggers, or watch my favourite blogs rolls on the side of the page for updates from the blogs I'm subscribed too.

More information on the basis of the project and details of how to enter can be found on Ron's blog, ++From The Warp++, here at this page: About The Project

Enjoy the threads and good luck!

Thanks to Ron for the information and being a driving force in the project.

Conversion Corner - Forces of the Librarium!

Hello Folks

Despite not posting much for a few days I've had a very busy few days. Not Content with furiously (well quite reasonable furiously for me!) converting away I've managed a trip or two out to the local Adnams shop for a wine tasting and ended up buying a bottle or 6 of a very nice New Zealand Sav called "Flying Kiwi". So the weekend became a mish-mash of tasting wine (if your in the UK may I suggest logging on to the Adnams website and trying some of their various wines, beers, ciders and foody products - free delivery on orders over £50) and drinking of beer, yet I have still completed a few tasks!

This weekend was a "Warriors of the Warp" weekend for me! I have finally got round to my Librarian conversions and have completed two and a third is awaiting a few finishing touches! Not only have I served the Red Hunters well but I also dug out my old copy of "Grey Knights" by Ben Counter and decided on a few conversions from that.

Finally not to spend too much time concentrating on Librarians and Knights I completed some work on my chapter icon pads to allow me to make a start on the rank and file, well after I've learnt the tricky art of GS moulding icons! Then just to wrap this weekends activity up there are a few pictures of some recently completed Imperial Guard figures to give you a little sneak peak of whats to come!

Due to the size of the pics and the number I will post the Red Hunters first, followed by a second post of the Grey Knights and the finally a third containing the Imperial Guard sneak peaks.

Red Hunters Librarians

Codifier Khorion

Codifier Khorion has served the Red Hunters with distinction for some 108 years, most of that time has been spent in the service of the 5th company, though as with most librarians this attachment is transitory and nominal.

Since his tenure under Inquisitor Tyndale during the Saldana Purges many have noted his increased aptitude in the ways of the warp and despite the loss of the Inquisitor during the Purges this has not adversely impacted the demand in which he finds himself and he and the fifth company are regularly requested for the most difficult campaigns by a growing number of veteran Inquisitors.

Since the Purges Khorion has developed a trait unusually (though not uncommon) amongst librarians and almost exclusively goes in to battle wearing his battle helm. Many Librarians choose to eschew this simple piece of defensive equipment to allow them to better harness the power of the warp, however after Inquisitor Tyndale was lost to a glancing shot to the head Khorion has chosen not to place himself in such a risky position.

Overall I am very please with how this model turned out, the simple green stuff icons have worked well and when combine with the Black Templar robes and helmet, along with the honour pad from the Red Scorpions set, gives a nice and simple Librarian conversion that works well.

Epistolary Rodriguez

Epistolary Rodriguez is currently on assignment with the Deathwatch on the behest of Inquisitor Grunvald after his actions during the boarding of the Ork infested Space Hulk "Dread Orktober" . The Epistolary has shown great aptitude for reading and coercing the minds of the myriad of Xenos races that assail the Imperium of man and is even now receiving further training in how best to improve and apply these skills.

Another relatively simple conversion using just plastic parts, apart from the Grey Knights Nemesis weapon and Deathwatch shoulder pad. Over all I am please with the Green Stuff work, though have noticed two missed parts - the right hand side lightning bot and the "edging" over one lower grieve, though may change this. Whilst the model is pretty static I think the Blood angels head gives a sense of motion or force.

Master Epistolary Haulvarn

Master Haulvarn has served with the Red Hunters for nearly six centuries and has completed numerous secondments to the Deathwatch, as is the way with many Red Hunters Veterans due to their Inquisitional ties.

Haulvarn is best known for his daemon fighting skills, and whilst many of his exploits are classified beyond Epsilon Vermilion level the power of this master of the immaterium cannot be doubted and his position within the chapter shows the mastery and skill he posses. Armed with his master crafted Storm Bolter and Nemesis Force hammer, both gifted by a Captain of the Grey Knights Haulvarn is a whirlwind of destruction and power on the battlefield.

Another conversion I am generally please with, however the skull on the chest really needs more work. I'm also not sure on the helmet so any views and suggestions would be great.

Red Hunters Test Pads

Some quick icon test casts of skulls to use for my Red Hunters logos, I know they need tidying up a little and possibly that the middle one is the best one of the three but what do you think?

Right well, that's update 1 of the weekends work complete.