Nepharite Sighting!

 Hi!

I've had this guy on my paint table for some time having picked him up for about £3.00 a few months back. I had primed him and made a start on the paintwork a while back but finally finished him and managed to get some pics.

Once a respected scientist with the Imperial labs on Proxima, Reginald Covinn was accidentally infected with a really unpleasant and virulent xenos pathogen while examining an ancient Mimjip artefact. Fleeing the lab he stowed away on an outbound ship and vanished from Imperial space for over a decade. 

When reports came in that the Warped had raided an Imperial settlement in the Farpoint Sector Inquisitor Fisher collected the surviving vid records of the attack and spotted the revolting creature directing a horde of pox ridden scavvies. Analysis on the images identified the creature as being Reginald Covinn. Somehow he had survived the Mimjip pathogen which had grossly bloated his form and turned him into a hulking, disease ridden horror.

Interestingly, Reginald seems to be operating with some method to his raids which seem to hint that he is searching for something more than unwilling test subjects. As yet Fisher has not been able to locate Reginald's current whereabouts but Inquisitorial investigators supported by local troops are searching for him as it is imperative that he cannot be allowed to spread contagion to any further settlements.

Originally a Demnogonis Nepharite from the old Warzone range, I repurposed him to act as a villain for my Inquisitorial team to fight as part of a mini campaign. I still need to get some infected troops and zombies as well as mad scientists to act as his underlings but I'm quite pleased with how he's turned out.

Infuriatingly I managed to drop him whilst painting him and broke off his halberd but a bit of glue seems to have fixed it. I also played around with some gloss varnish on his gribbly bits and weapons to give a more wet and unpleasantly diseased look to him.

The figure itself is a bit silly looking but was fun to paint and weighs an absolute ton!

I'm currently without a gaming table as we have to keep the spare room usable for a bedroom in the coming months so I doubt I'll get to use him in a game anytime soon but I'll keep plugging away with the odd figure until he's got an equally unhealthy retinue.

In other news, I made the most of the recent Ral Partha Europe discount day to pick up some more Battletech gubbins in the form of rulebooks and map sheets so I'm hoping to delve into them in the coming week once they arrive so watch this space!

In the meantime, All the best!

Lockdown 2.0 Project Log Day 97: Mercenary and Combat Cyborg!

 Hi!

I've finished painting a new figure for my collection and have a revamped one done too!

First up theres Rosario Ramirez, Mercenary:

Rosario is a native of Farpoint but having no interest in mining, joined one of the many mercenary guilds that make their home on the frontier in search of a more lucrative and exciting profession. 

She's both competent and highly motivated and has been much sought after, working mostly short term contracts. Her latest employer is a bit of a mystery but pays well and has dispatched her along with a small team to the seedier parts of Freeport City, Farpoint's capitol. She has spent the last week surveilling a compound near the Starport and suspects she's' going be getting some action soon.

Rosario is originally one of the Syntha marines from Void 1.1 but she's generic and interesting enough to make for a good freelance gun. I'm painting a few more similar figures at present to give me a decent little Merc team to work for unknown employers doing shady deeds.

Next up there's Cassius the Combat Cyborg:

Unlike the clunky Servitors of Maximo, Vash has developed cutting edge cybernetic bodies for his own followers and his latest construct is Cassius. Once a lowly security trooper that was badly shot up in one of Inquisitor Fishers skirmishes with the Orks, Cassius now finds himself encased in Ceramite and armed with a Lightning Claw and rapid fire Bolter to bring the Empress' Justice to the uncouth.

Cassius is another old Syntha model from Void 1.1, this time an Assault Androsynth and was painted by me about 8 years ago and has been sat in storage ever since. I've reworked him quite a bit with a fresh coat of paint to jazz up the red and black and he now sports Non Metallic Metallic gear and I plan on using him in an upcoming game as Master Lee is out of action for the next four games!

Speaking of games, I managed to play out a bit of a playtest of a scenario idea I had for Planet 28 using the experimental D100 method that was posted over on Facebook a while back. It was brilliant fun to play and resulted in some nail biting moments. I didn't get any photos as some of the figures weren't completed and the scenery still needs working on but I'll play it again this weekend and will post a full battle report.

In the meantime, All the best!

Lockdown 2.0 Project Log Day 60: Reinforcements!

 Hi!

I've managed to get some odds and ends finished for my Imperial retinue and my Ork warbands!

First up, there's the second of my Blood Angels done:

Brother Flavius and Brother Blasius

I painted Brother Flavius using a mixture of red and orange as I wanted to get a better coverage than the red alone which took about 5-6 coats to get a smooth finish. The reddish orange mix gave a nice smooth finish in 3 coats which was far better. It also has a more traditional Blood Angels finish than the Blasius' armour.

I've got another three of the these guys to finish and am looking forward to being able to play a battle squad of five of the Empresses finest in the not too distant future.

Next up, there's a fifth Goff Ork:

Nothing too exciting about him but he will either bulk up my first mob or start  a second. I hope to eventually have about a dozen or so of the original Goff boys done and dusted which will give me enough for a good sized random encounter for my Imperial adventurers to have to deal with.

I'm planning on using a random encounter card deck, much like Warhammer Quest's back in the day but theming it for individual encounters so for example, a party exploring a region inhabited by Orks may encounter something like the following:

D6 Orks 

2D6 Orks

D6 Gretchin

2D6 Gretchin

D3 Nobz

Wierdboy plus D6 Madboyz

Mekboy plus D3 Grot minions

Runtherd plus 2D6 Grots

Escaped Slave

Looted Vehicle

Dreadnought!

D6 Freebooterz

D6 Stormboyz on route march

Warboss and Retinue (big bad for the end of a mini campaign)

The plan is to get a bunch of stuff painted up and draw 1 card at the start of the game and another at random times during the game. Coupled with some scenario driven objectives and said encounters appearing from random places, it should make for a fun game.

By adding some optional extras into the cards, with the odd heavy weapon and/or Nob having a chance to be part of the Ork mobs or the Gretchin having some Squigs or whatnot, there's lots of possibilities for bringing in new and interesting game options.

I'll have to get on with the painting and see if I can locate the figures but it's giving me some fun ideas and if I drop in some wildcards such as wandering beasties, boobytraps and so on, it should make for a lively sort of campaign.

I've got another Ork almost finished as well as one of Vash's Mechanicus warbots just needing it's base finished and will post them up tomorrow along with whatever else I may finish in the meantime but 'til then, All the best!

Lockdown 2.0 Project Log Day 30: Imperial Inquisitor

 Hi!

As promised, here's my first Inquisitorial agent, Inquisitor Fisher:

Inquisitor Fisher

Inquisitor Fisher has been despatched by the Inquisition to follow up on rumours of rebellion fermenting on the frontier and plans to delve into the settlements of the Farpoint sector to root out any pockets of rebel scum with extreme prejudice.

A powerful fighter, Fisher wields a power sword and master crafted las pistol. It is rumoured that she joined the Inquisition initially as a hired gun in her early teens from the hiveworld of Abraxus but has proven her skills in the last several decades, eventually rising to the rank of Inquisitor. 

Inquisitor Fisher leading an Imperial kill team

Originally a Privateer Press Warmachine Warcaster, I've had her amongst my leadpile for almost fifteen years but never painted her. I had managed to break her big hammer thingy and was going to replace it with a normal power sword but having watched The Mandalorian, I gave her a light sabre instead!

While not a traditional Old School figure, a bit of bodging and a fresh coat of paint and she works quite well as an Imperial citizen.

I'm currently working on the first of her retinue, an Adeptus Mechanicus adept who will be supplying tech support and hope to have him finished in the next day or so and have got the first of my Eldar completed and just need to get the base completed.

Tomorrow I think I'll post some rumination on my version of Oldhammer and some of the other miniatures ranges that have caught my eye so we shall see how things go.

In the meantime, All the best!

Painters Progress

Hi!

I've got my table set up again and have managed to get a couple of quick shots of my latest painting output!

First up, here's a half Orc I've had for a while now. He's originally from Grenadier but I picked him up from EM4 Miniatures a while back. He's been sat unpainted for ages but I finally got round to finishing him!

Half Orc

He will be incorporated into my Leviathan project and I've been trying to push my NMM style painting with all my stuff and I must admit that I am quite pleased with how he's turned out!

Next up, here's one of the skeletal ghosty chaps from issue 1 of the Mortal Realms magazine. At £2.99 I figured I couldn't go wrong and quite like how he turned out:

Gribbly Undead

Next up, I've got a couple of Barbarians, again originally from Grenadier, I picked them up about 10 years ago from Targe or Skelp (I can't remember which!).

Barbarians

Again, they will be incorporated into Leviathan!

I've also been painting up lots of my 15mm leadpile and have worked on my Wood Wode warriors:

 Wood Wodes

They are Peter Pig figures that I've had for goodness knows how long and they were really good for cleansing my painting palette when I start flagging with 28mm!

I spent ages working on teeny tiny shields which I am really pleased with:

Shield Detail

While not painted this year, late last year I got a few 15mm scale Dwarves done too for a bit of a Smallhammer project:

Dwarf Troops

I also found an old Mordheim Gargoyle which got turned into a 15mm scale beastie:

Gargoyle

It's been great to get so much painting done so early on in the year. I've also got to get some pics of my 2mm infantry that I've been working on but that's a post for another day!

Hopefully I'll have more pics in the next few days but in the meantime, All the best!

A Return to Flintloque

Hi!

I can't believe it's already half way through August! I've taken a bit of a break from all the 15mm scale gubbins that I've been painting over the last few weeks to crack on with my small Flintloque project.

Grigori Dracsul and Zombie Musketeers

I'm rather enjoying painting the chunky sculpts that I have such fond memories of and must admit that I'm sorely tempted to pick up some more Flintloque gubbins once I've finished painting my way through the Deadloque boxed set that I picked up earlier this year.

Now all my scenery collection consists of 5-15mm scale stuff so playing a game of Flintloque would be a bit of a challenge so I had a rummage through my bits box and found an old Grendel Artillery position and have had a crack at painting up the Mantlet:

Grendel Mantlet and Undead Musketeer

I must say that the Grendel resin scenics pieces are utterly fab! The detail is nice and chunky and it takes very little effort to bring out the best in the kits. This piece was mainly done over the course of an evening with several drybrushes and washes and really looks great now it's finished. The application of some snow effect really made it fit in with the frozen Witchlands aesthetic of Flintloque too.

I still have the spotters position to finish and will post a picture of the complete set once I get the chance but In the meantime, I have also finished an old plastic Darkworld treasure chest for use as a scenario objective:

Chest of Grave Dirt

Game wise, it will be Grigori's daytime retreat for when the sun makes a rare appearance and is full of grave dirt for him to recuperate in. I used black glitter which doesn't really show up too well in the photo but gives quite a nice magical finish in the flesh.

Looking at my progress, I have a single Zombie musketeer to paint but he's going to need a bit of tlc as he's got quite a bit of flash and mould slippage going on which will see me doing a bit of carving to clean him up and then the whole Undead force will be finished!

 Grigori and Musketeers

I find it fascinating that I'm more than happy to paint up these chunky fellows while more modern 28mm sculpts leave me dreading picking up a brush. I suspect the forgiving nature of the sculpts appeals to me as it's awfully easy to bring out the best in them and get a finish that is deeply satisfying.

Stalinov and Skeletal Militia

As already mentioned, I've been looking back fondly on the old sculpts and I'm rather tempted to pick up one or two more for the Peninsular campaign with Wheelingturn's Orcs but I'm trying to restrain myself as I still have the Elven survivor miniatures to paint from the Deadloque box but I do recommend folks give them a try as once you get past the slightly crude and cartoony sculpts, they are rather good fun to work on!

Hopefully I'll have the Undead finished by the end of the month and hope to finish off one or two odds and ends that have been sat partly painted on my shelves for quite some time so watch this space!

All the best!

Deadloque Update

Hi!

I've been a bit busy with work but finally have a week off and I'm hoping to be able to spend a little bit of time in hobby related shenanigans!

I've been slowly painting my way through my Deadloque box and have finished another Zombie musketeer as well as a few odds and ends and have even repurposed an old board game figure into my small force:

Zombie Musketeer

I've given this guy a brown greatcoat instead of the dark greens I've stuck with so far as I'm keen to avoid getting bored of my painting. I'm also still experimenting with the correct skin tones for zombies so this little chap is a somewhat warmer green than the last figure I painted.

Next up here's a Wraith:

Howdy Neighbour!

He's the Lurker from the old Darkworld boardgame and I spotted him in my bits box and thought that his mighty truckasaurus hands would fit in with the style of Flintloque. I sculpted a new head for him to give a more pleasingly cartoony finish and gave him a quick paint job. I'm quite pleased with how he's turned out!

It's not all figures I've been painting though as the box set I picked up from Ebay included some handy scatter terrain which will be making a handy objective for my forces to fight it out over:

 Ye Shotte

The sculpts are really crude but a quick dash of paint makes them serviceable enough!

Finally, here's a quick pic of my Undead force thus far:

The forces of the Star Wraith

I'm still enjoying painting my way through my collection and can't quite believe I've almost finished the Undead from the box. I seem to be spending 2019 in a very productive mode with steady progress on my 2mm and Deadloque projects. 

Hopefully this will continue over the next couple of weeks as I attempt to finish the Undead and make a start on the Elves. I even managed to play a quick skirmish using Flintloque which saw the Elves make a quick raid on an Undead ammunition store and steal some powder and shotte before withdrawing having shot down two zombie sentries and a skeletal guard who was attracted to the noise.

Sadly I didn't manage to get any photos as our cat, Mab decided she wanted to constantly climb on the table, knock over dice and generally be a bit of a menace but hopefully next time I'll get some pics and put together an after action report!

In the meantime, All the best!

Still Alive!

Hi!

Well I've not posted any updates for some time but I have actually had a rather productive few weeks hobby wise as I've had a much needed two whole weeks holiday from work!

With Christmas, New Year sales, Harry Potter nights and all sorts of work related excitement, I must admit that the last two weeks have been bliss and a much needed chance to recharge my batteries, relax and paint some stuff!

I've been sorting through our spare room (or library!) which has been chock full of stuff since we moved last year and it's starting to look habitable but more importantly, it's given me an excuse to sort my unpainted miniature stashes into one relatively small pile and I've found picking up and painting the odd bits and bobs that I have collected over the last few decades rather rewarding.

First up, here's some simple scenics I put together for my upcoming Rogue Trader demo at Waterstones:

 Ultramarines investigate some ruins

While they are nothing too exciting, I had a general lack of ruins for my 15mm scale guys to fight over so put this stuff together over the course of an hour or so using cork tile and sand with a little bit of polyfilla to add texture and quite like how they turned out. I need to make another dozen or so for the demo but it shouldn't take too long to do now I have the process sorted.


Next up, I reworked my Ultramarines to be non metallic in-keeping with how my painting style seems to have developed and even managed to finish the missile launcher trooper which has sat primed but unloved in a box since I was at university!

Heavy Weapon

Better yet, I painted up some thuggish sorts with pistols to represent The Riot Squad, one of the local street gangs on Farpoint as well as a random old lady (who looks like she may have stepped out of Monty Python).

Thugs look askance at a shifty old lady

I really like the expression on her face and although the sculpting is rather chunky, she looks the part (ironically she's supposed to be a small child but looks far better as an old cantankerous lady). The gangers are rather fun, although their guns are a bit oversized and have lots of character.

I've also finally found time to paint up my SD adventuring party for Somewhere on the Border!

Bold Adventurers

These are all original sculpts by myself and painting them has got my fingers literally itching to make some more as I really enjoyed painting them!

But there's more! I also finished a Dwarf Technomancer and her robotic minion!

 Shoot him in the face Clyde!

I've also got a sinister rusty rogue robot finished!

Dakka Dakka Dakka!

He's going to be seeing use in several games in the not too distant future, both as an Ork dreadnought in 15mm scale and as a rogue Golem in Somewhere on the Border.

There's more! I've been humming and hahing about trying to put together a 28mm scale fantasy army for some time which got me thinking about my old Leviathan project which got me rummaging for bits which resulted in me painting up some stalwart Dwarves!

Stunties

Yes, Leviathan is getting a bit of a fresh look at and I'm just going to concentrate on painting stuff and enjoying the retro charm of the classic and characterful sculpts.

Finally, I've got some Aeronef painted for a bit of a random side project that's been rattling around in my head for quite some time too.

Imperial Patrol Nef

It's a bit of a random one that I suspect will be a slow one to develop but has thus far been rather fun to paint my way through.

Kahuna Island Nef

You may notice that I have four different projects all on the go at once but it seems that is just how I roll and it's stopping me getting bored with any one project and I must admit that I've surprised myself with just how much stuff I have managed to paint my way through in the ongoing challenge to clear my unpainted leadpile.

With this in mind, I suspect that I will be flitting around in a similar style for the rest of the year but it's keeping me working at painting and enjoying my hobby and that's the main thing!

All the best!

Deadite Reaper

Hi!

Well I've had this chap sat half painted on my table for several years now and thought it was high time I actually got round to finishing him off!

He went that away!

He's a mid 80's Citadel miniature and the detailing on him is a bit rough and ready, as is the anatomy but I must admit that I quite enjoyed painting the little guy. I'm not sure I will be painting much more in the scale but it was quite a nice change from the smaller scale gubbins I've been concentrating on of late.

I also discovered a new range of paints that are really rather nice. Anita's all purpose acrylic are available from the likes of The Range and rather affordable too. 

Acrylic Goodies!

The Earth Brown is especially nice when watered down into a wash as can be seen with the robe of the Deadite. It was just several coats of earth brown wash over a khaki basecoat. I picked up a few colours from The Range a while back to see what they were like and I must admit that I like what I've found! I suspect that I will be picking up a fair few more in the coming weeks to add to my collection.

They are allowing me to experiment with a looser and more naturalistic style than what I would usually attempt with lots of earthy, matt tones that look rather decent. While smaller scale painting requires bold colours and sharp highlights, I think these paints work rather well with 28mm scale figures and I may be tempted to try out some experimental paintjobs to see how they turn out.

Alas I'm back to work tomorrow so I doubt I will have much chance to paint anything for a while but we shall see what we can do!

All the best!

A Quick Update!

Hi!

Well I have finally got a day off work but will be spending much of it doing work related shenanigans but have just been rummaging through some of my old pics and found these chaps:

 Lesser Goblin Wartower

Orc Warriors

 Scenic Gubbins

Interestingly they are all from my old Leviathan project which stalled out many moons ago but looking at some of the stuff I developed for it, I do wonder if it might be possible to resurrect the enthusiasm I had back then for 28mm scale stuff as those Orcs look cracking and the tree gives me a hint of just how interesting my fantasy project might have become.

I don't want to jump the gun but watch this space...

All the best!

A Return to Aeroth?

Hi!

Well another busy day at work is over but I have loads of stuff still to do organising a Harry Potter evening instore for 200 people so I suspect that my hobby time is going to be next to non-existent for the next couple of weeks but I do find myself looking back over some of my Aeroth stuff of the last few years.

Now I have tried time and again to get some warbands put together for the classic wargame, Leviathan but for various reasons I just don't seem to be able to get anywhere. Part of the problem is that the original game was in 28mm scale and required some really vast warbeasts and engines of destruction to play such as this fellow below:

Orc Titanosaur

The game looked amazing if a bit impractical as you needed a vast amount of space to play it properly, not to mention a large selection of equally vast monsters. I've tried it out in 15mm with some success and am slowly working on a selection of 6mm bits and bobs to represent some of the epic battles that take place on the blasted plains of Aeroth but I can't help but wonder what I can do to resurrect the fun I had with the game.

Horned Folk Warband

Now I doubt that I can summon up the time or space to create a mass battle in 28mm scale but I have been wondering about a 28mm skirmish or a 15mm scale mid sized battle sort of  a deal. With that in mind, I am going to do a bit of experimenting to see if I can't put together some bits and bobs.

I don't know how much time I have spare to work on the project but I am rather keen to have a bash and see what I can put together. Hopefully I will have something to post this weekend though!

All the best!

Blood Axe!

Hi!

Well wonders will never cease apparently as I've managed to clear another long standing bugbear from my workbench in the form of a Mantic Ork Commando who will be added to my slowly expanding Bloodaxe warband:

 Ork Commando

Much like the Eldar from my previous post, I had started this chap at least six months ago and gave up finishing him as the detail on the figure annoyed me so much. I decided to get him out of the way and spent a couple of evenings to get him to the standard that I needed to and am really pleased to have got him done.

As I mentioned when I posted pics of the last member of this warband that I put together, I find a lot of modern sculpts a bit too fiddly and detailed to be an enjoyable object to paint and this fellow is no exception. There's a profusion of straps, buckles and small details that need to be sorted out for him to look good and it really does put a crimp on my painting enjoyment.

Bloodaxe Warband

Saying that, I have him done and think I will be taking a proper break from 28mm for a while as I find the experience rather frustrating and will be resuming Epic project gubbins for my next update. 

I do find myself in a bit of a quandary with my hobby blog at present as I am loving painting 6mm stuff and forming decent sized forces to play platoon to company level battles but I can't seem to find my mojo when it comes to skirmish sized games. I have sold off my 15mm stuff as I just can't seem to summon up any enthusiasm for it anymore and my 28mm stuff just isn't doing it for me either. 

Handily, I have another batch of sculpts underway for my chibi/super deformed project so will be seeing about creating some new factions as my Orks are very nearly done now and I hope to have a few more bits and bobs to show in the near future including my freshly reinforced Bloodaxe warband!

In the meantime, All the best  

Eldar Heavy

Hi!

Well I've just been to see the new Star Wars movie on my day off and really enjoyed it and I even managed to finally finish off an Eldar Heavy for my Saim Hann warband!

Eldar Heavy

I must admit that I really didn't enjoy painting the guy as he's been sat on my workbench for over six months now and the effort of getting a smooth finish with the paintjob was really annoying. Still he's finally finished and while he may not win any painting competitions, I am really pleased that I have him finished at last.

Guardians

Along with the other three guardians, I now have the start of a skirmish warband but I don't think I will be working on another for a little while as I want to get back to some Epic gubbins as I actually enjoy painting them but I've enjoyed finishing off another work in progress.

In other news, I have also been reworking my blog here a bit and will be adding more pages detailing the alternative Imperium and its allies and enemies so do feel free to have a peruse!

All the best!

Orkish Attack Hound

Hi!

Well I had a rather productive day off yesterday and completed a few more bits and bobs that have been languishing half done on my painting desk for some time now:

 Fido the death dog

First up, there's an attack dog for my Bloodaxe warband. Originally from the Mantic Marauder faction for Deadzone, he painted up really quickly and despite having rather a cartoony look to him (or possibly because he did) he fits in really well with the Bloodaxes.

 Nom!

I extended the body very slightly with a little putty and went for a really quick paintjob and it turned out surprisingly well for about an hours work. I have a second one in the queue to get put together and may convert him slightly by removing the chainsaw from his mouth and adding a tongue instead.

Bionics detail

I also managed to finish off a couple more stands for my Grey Elves for Leviathan:

Elven regiment

I must admit that the little chaps are looking good but I frankly hate the amount of work that it takes to get them ready to paint. I have to remove the original spears, clear off lots of mould lines, add a new spear from wire and then sculpt on a replacement arm. Irregular miniatures looks surprisingly good once painted but they could really simplify things if they cast individually!

I'm off to work in a couple of hours so will have to leave it there I'm afraid but hopefully I will get some more bits and bobs done soon including another Eldar who has been sat half finished for far too long now!

All the best!