Calling in the Support!

I finally managed to get this guy wrapped up. He's been sitting on the edge of my desk for the last few weeks, biding his time, unsure of when he was going to slip into the queue. Now, for my larger games of 30K, I have another way for my Death Guard to bring down some pretty nice damage.

I love the wonderfully executed homage to the original, Rogue Trader-era, communications Space Marine. This is the right way to update a model.

And don't forget you have just over 72 hours to purchase your raffle tickets for the NOVA Open Charitable Foundation 2014 army projects. To by tickets for the Ultramarine army, click on the image above. To buy tickets for the Tyranids, click on the image below. To buy tickets for the other armies, click HERE.

All the best to those who have supported the projects this year!

One week left for the NOVA Open Charity raffles!

There is just under one week left to buy your raffle tickets for the chance to win one of five great armies as a part of the NOVA Open Charitable Foundation's 2014 project. Your purchase of raffle tickets (each specific to one of the five armies) can go towards helping great charities like:
• Doctors Without Borders
• Child's Play
• The Fisher House
• The Wounded Warrior Project

As I've said before, I helped co-ordinate the two Macragge armies - the Ultramarines and the Tyranids. More than 20 artists gave their time and talents to contribute to the cause. One of these artists, Chris Dubuque (aka Jawaballs), sent me his Ultramarine veterans to finish (basically add the snow to the bases). Sadly the box these models arrived in was stolen from my front porch. I was furious and disappointed, all at the same time. But as the show must roll on, I dug into my old Ultramarines case and pulled out a Sternguard Veteran squad to take their place. I was able to rebase them on a spare set of the Omega Bases (still available from Secret Weapon Miniatures , but only until next Sunday).

Here are the four classic Tyrannic War Veterans.

Three more Veterans wielding combo-weapons and adorned with trophies of their struggle.

And the final three of the squad. The sergeant has a lightning claw fashioned from Tyranid talons, and the other two tote heavy flamers, perfect for hosing down swathes of termagants and hormagaunts.

Equally disappointed with the tragedy that was the theft of the minis, Chris has sent his life-sized, award-winning Ultramarine banner (valued at over $500) to join the Ultramarine army. This really pushes that army over the top : )

To buy your raffle tickets, head to this page and start clicking. NOTE: The armies WILL BE shipped to ANYWHERE in the world and you DO NOT have to be present at NOVA to win, so it doesn't matter where you are, you can win!

And please, spread the word.

Cheers
Dave

NOCF - Trophy Land Raider completed!

Back here I showed you the first stages of the repaint of this crazy Land Raider. Well, the model arrived back from John on Friday and over the weekend I worked at finishing off the details.

I hope you like this updated version of my old model. I love the combination of my typically style with John Stiening's awesome airbrush and weathering stylings!

This model has been added to the Blood & Honor: Defense of Macragge army.

You can buy raffle tickets now for this armies and others. If you can't afford to buy tickets at the moment, please help the cause by telling as many others as you can about it, and encouraging them to share it all as well : )

Website: novaopenfoundation.org
Blog: novacf.blogspot.com
and here's the Facebook page too : )

Cheers
Dave

NOCF - The Ultramarines get a boost.

We are now in the final stretches of wrapping up the NOVA Open Charitable Foundation 40K charity army projects for 2014 (although raffle tickets will still be available HERE until the end of August).

John Steining - the man behind the color recipe we've been using for the Ultramarines, and the guy who painted up the awesome House Hawkshroud Imperial Knight - has agreed to help me update an old model from my original Ultramarine army. This is an as-yet-unamed pattern of Land Raider, kitted out to deal with the larger beasties in a Tyranid horde. Not only does it boast twin-linked assault cannons mounted in the hull, but it also has three sets of twin-linked plasma guns mounted in each sponson - lots of lovely, fiery death!

As you can see above, John has worked his airbrushed tonal modulation magic, and all that remains is for me to work on the details and the parts of the Carnifex carcass/trophy that are bolted and chained to the hull : ) You can see more photos on John's blog, HERE.

Check out the NOCF blog and Facebook page for more details of the armies as they grow, and please, spread the word as far and wide as you can!

NOCF - Ultramarine Centurions, in detail.

I promised some more photos of the Ultramarine Centurions that I've painted up as part of the NOVA Open Charitable Foundation - 40K Army Raffles, and here they are. Above is the Sergeant of the squad, while below are the two troopers.

And again as a squad in front of that lovely Hangar 18 background : )

So, if you fancy a chance at winning what will undoubtedly be a spectacular army (with models by the likes of Justin McCoy, Aaron Lovejoy, John Stiening, Celso Mendez, Marc Raley, Alex Landing, Les Bursley, Brandon Palmer, and a host of others), AND help the Doctors Without Borders organization at the same time, please head HERE and buy some raffle tickets : )

They've also started a blog and a Facebook page, so you can more easily keep up with the activity. Don't forget to follow and Like the pages.

Best of luck to you, may the odds be ever in your favor!

Cheers
Dave

NOCF - Ultramarine Centurions are complete! - First Pic

After juggling a lot of different painting projects (I think I had six on the go there at one point) I've finally been able to wrap up the Ultramarine Centurions for the NOVA Open Charitable Foundation 40K army raffles this year. I've shown a couple of in progress shots here and here, so it's nice to finally get them under the lights. The cool backdrop is a lovely one from Hanger 18!

NOCF have just started a blog to track the progress of the many painters who are involved in this project, and show you all the cool finished pieces as they roll in over the next two weeks or so.

Speaking of cool pieces, super-busy Aaron Lovejoy (of Guild Painting Services) wasn't able to donate a new model to the cause (as he's super-busy), but he was able to provide this Tigurius from his very own Ultramarine army. Thanks Aaron! I just had to rebase him to fit the theme, using one of the Secret Weapon Miniatures bases from their Omega Bases line (50% of the money from the sale of these bases goes directly to the NOCF)!

I hope you like them, I'll post some more detailed photos tomorrow.

Cheers
Dave

PS. My Thanatar Siege Automata arrived on Friday ; )

NOCF - Ultramarine Centurions - Part Two

Work continues on my contribution to the NOVA Open Charity Foundation Ultramarine army for 2014 - Blood And Honor: The Defense of Macragge.

The Centurions have had two-thirds of their silver completed and now their blues are done (although they are a bit more subtle than this photo might suggest. Next up? Complete the silver, paint the bone and parchment, then on to all the gold trim.

If you'd like a chance at winning one of the two great 40K armies on offer, click on the images below and make a donation to the cause by buying a raffle ticket or twenty ; ) There are also lovely Warhammer, Warmachine, and FOW armies on offer too.

Cheers
Dave

NOCF - Ultramarine Centurions.

With all of the Old Line Massacre hubbub going on, I've neglected to post some photos of my progress for the NOVA Open Charity Foundation army raffles. For that I apologize. My role in this year's effort is an interesting one. Not only do I get to contribute this squad of Centurions, I've also helped guide both the Ultramarine and Tyranid teams. Over the next six weeks you can expect to see quite a few posts about our progress.

Anyway, onto the Centurions. I was tasked with putting together a squad of Grav-cannon toting guys, but I wasn't completely sure how I wanted to convert them.

Some of you may remember this conversion I did last year, stripping back some of the bulk of the gun arms I wasn't particularly fond of. Well, this conversion inspired Erik Jung to build the Imperial Fists Centurion you see below. I liked the fluidity of Erik's conversion so much, I asked if I could steal it for this project. Erik gave me his blessing. You can even recognize the same pose he used in my Sergeant : ) The cables are the metal power cables from Dragon Forge.

Thanks Erik!

The other very cool thing about this project is that we'll all be using these bases. My friend, Thomas Wynn, teamed up with Justin McCoy from Secret Weapon Miniatures to create this line of Omega Bases. Not only did SWM cast them up for the two complete armies, but they are selling them now. 50% of every sale will be donated directly to the NOCF, so buying these cool bases helps out our chosen charity too - Doctors Without Borders.

Of course, buying raffle tickets puts you in the running for some fantastic looking armies too ; )

Until next time, have fun and keep painting!

Cheers
Dave

Games Day Baltimore 2010 (part2)

So, last post I jumped straight into my Golden Demon entries, and left you hanging on the rest of my adventures at the show. Well, after dropping off my GD entries, I met Ron Saikowski (From the Warp), a fellow member of the Storm Warden Build Team, and we had a look through the Storm Wardens army and case : ) Very cool stuff. I then took it downstairs to the main hall to drop it off at the Jawaballs and Fritz table, ready for it to be picked up by Jacob, the winner of the army. While there, I helped Jawaballs with a quick video run-through of the army in the case and we were joined by Ross Watson (from Fantasy Flight Games) who had not only helped us out with some extra background on the Storm Wardens, but also provided a Tactical demi-squad and a signed copy of Deathwatch! Extra cool stuff!

It was then off to the Armies on Parade area, where I laid out my Blood Pact army in the hopes there'd be some nice response to it. Once that was dropped off, I was back up to the Golden Demon Lounge area for my shift at the table. Three hours of chatting to folks about painting toy soldiers, and catching up with old friends.

So at the top of the page you can see the Terminator Squad I entered for the 40K Squad category. I painted these guys almost two years ago, as part of my Ultramarine army that I started for the release of 5th edition 40K. I now have the entire 5th Company painted, along with about 65% of the 1st company and quite a few elements of the 10th.

This Assault Terminator Squad are my favorite 5 Termies from the army.

As well as entering Armies on Parade (and winning the Best Painted Army award), I also entered my Sanchez-pattern Crusader into the Vehicle Conversion Contest. It's a fairly straight-forward conversion, adding the Carnifex carcass to the top, along with other detailing and and trophies. The real kickers are the six twin-linked plasmas in the sponsons. This arrangement was suggested by a former colleague (Dureke Sanchez) and is so heinous it can take down a Carnifex in one round of shooting. It certainly didn't win, but the winner in that category was perhaps one of the most amazing things at Games Day. It was an Ork Pirate Ship, built from two Baneblades, seven Stompa kits, and about fifteen pounds of plastic sprue. Simply awesome. my friends and I dubbed the builder the "Hero of Games Day"!

More later in the week.