Tapping Into The Warp

Today I opened my third eye and, in order to make sense of the howling insanity of the empyrean, painted a couple of wyrds for, variously, 40K stuff and Necromunda:

On the left, a Bad Squiddo mini who will now work as either a Daemonhost or a psyker in an Inquisitorial retinue; on the right, a Troublemaker Games mini who is now a Necromunda Wyrd

Cwen the Wys is a name I've used a few times in various TTRPGs and even a LARP; it seemed appropriate for this unsanctioned psyker in the Underhive

The combination of ashen-grey skin tinged with an inhuman red, and the bright green glow of the eyes and mouth, and the pose - which is fantastic - all combine to make this mini one of the more obviously dangerous psyker figures I own

I'm really pleased with how the psyker/daemonhost turned out. It's a very simple palette, a very simple paintjob, and the combination of pose and paint have given me a really quite scary little mini who wouldn't look out of place in any 40K game. She'd even work well in a Chaos force or as an objective, or similar. A fantastic figure from Bad Squiddo Games as per usual, props to the sculptor Shane Hoyle.

The Necromunda Wyrd will make for a great and very useful Hired Gun for any Outlaw gang, and is quite intimidating in her own right - I messed up her eyes a bit but they're red, with either running black mascara or some kind of ichor (your interpretation) drooling down her cheeks. And she is, of course, in a quite appropriate combination of tattered overcoat and semi-uniform style blue dress. 

Next up is probably the Count Binface model, and perhaps the Bad Squiddo snake priestesses to go with my slowly growing Song Of Blades And Heroes snake-worshipper band.

Painting Points:
Today: 2
This Week: 14
2025: 36

Cawdor Done At Last

Or, to be more accurate, all the Cawdor stuff I own is finished now. I don't actually have all the Cawdor stuff Games Workshop makes, there's a couple more special characters and some Ash Wastes stuff they do as well that, I expect, at some point, I might pick up. Assuming I can paint another 290-odd models before July. 

The Headsman (a special Hired Gun) and a Stig-Shambler. Apparently the heavy stubber is a bad choice, but I preferred the look to the heavy flamer, so I went for that when I made it

I like how filthy and dirty the wash makes them look

Sadly the gunner slightly broke; if you look at some older photos there's another candle on a stick behind her head, but it snapped. Ah well

Despite large areas of cloth that could probably do with a bit of highlighting, I decided to leave it because it looks much grimier than otherwise

I also wrote up the handwritten list that catalogues my Pile of Opportunity. So far I'm at 1,590 (it was 1,592 until I finished these two models!) and I still have to count my AK47 Republic stuff. Should only take about 795 days' of work to get through, hardly any time at all really if you ask me.

Painting Points:
Today: 2
This Week: 9
2025: 9

Random Assortment

Today I painted one mini from undercoat to completion, and finished off the bases of some others for some nice quick wins. I also got to the point where I've very nearly counted almost every unpainted miniature I have: I just need to dig out my 15mm AK47 Republic file boxes and see what's left to do there. I know there was a fair chunk of stuff back when I was last working on them some... errr... twenty years ago. 

In the meantime, here's what I did today:

Spiders! These are from the Warcry spider cult warband, but I've repurposed them for random Necromunda critters

A Ral Partha mini, and a companion to the executioner and headsman's block I did the other day. She represents the 15th and last Pain Token for my Dark Eldar

The dark brown highlights on her hair didn't come out in this photo very well, sadly, but hey ho

This is Porcelain, a D&D Warforged character I drew up for a game a while ago. The mini is a 3D print from... somewhere? R, my friend, who currently has my 3D printer, printed her off a while ago

She might be all curves but she's magic-powered metal and deadly with it

I particularly like how the 'skin' came out - I used a lot of different tones and the end result is very nice

Then I actually put some more paint on the Cawdor models! No, really, look:

They're about 2/3 finished now I reckon

That's the metallics all done, and I'm on to the highlighting-post-Agrax Earthshade and details stage. Oh, and the skin, I guess. I should be able to get them finished tomorrow, which cleans my painting desk for something new. Maybe those Royalist Quar at last...?

Painting Points:
Today: 5
This Week: 7
2025: 7

The Sheen Of Feathers

Yesterday I talked about how I just had the Cawdor Headsman and Stig-Shambler to do, and then I mentioned the Sheen Birds too. Well, today I painted the Sheen Birds and made a start on the Headsman and Stig-Shambler, so I'm quite chuffed with that. A couple of days' left in the year and I might even get the people done as well as the cybernetic bird-zombies!

I really like these dark reflections of wildlife and what they say about the Imperium

The Cawdor gangers see them as sent from the Emperor as manifestations of His will, so I named them appropriately

And with the Sheen Birds done my pile of mini-critters has, for the moment, run out. I have some giant spiders somewhere though...

I'm very glad I wrote down how I painted my Cawdor gangers though. 

Painting Points:
Today: 3
This Week: 31
2024: 230 (381)

Rats With Hats

If you can call candles hats, that is.

I spent today's painting time finishing off all the various rats and bits and pieces that were on my painting tray - most notably the explosives objective marker and a toolbox that I found lying around which was a nice quick paintjob:

Bomb rats! My favourite is the one presenting the petrol bomb with the pin in its mouth

I didn't bother naming them because I figured the Cawdor gangers probably wouldn't either

Generic giant rats painted to look like old pet rats P and I used to have

And their names!

These both painted up very quickly and will make a nice objective marker and bit of scatter terrain

The toolbox is red because my Dad has one just like that which is red

And that was it for today! I'm probably going to make a start on the Cawdor Headsman and Stig-Shambler next, which, once done, will mean I only need to do the Sheen Birds and then all the House Cawdor stuff I have will be complete.

Painting Points:
Today: 10
This Week: 28
2024: 227 (378)

More Small Creatures...

...and one's blue!

A while ago I went looking for all the various Escher miniatures I had so that I could work out what I could put into my gang for the campaign I played in a while back. Whilst doing that, I realised I couldn't find the Caryatid I knew I had - and eventually decided it must have fallen on the floor and vanished at some point. Then, yesterday, when I began a mad plan to catalogue all of my Pile of Opportunity (more on this in another post) I found the Caryatid!

They're so grumpy!

Drybrushing really helped the sculpted details become visible

This was a super quick paint job, mostly a wash and drybrushing with some painted details like the bangles, collar, feathers and hair. But now there's a Caryatid that may or may not see the table at some point. 

In addition to Li'l Blue, I did some work on my Cawdor Bomb Rats:

They're cute, they're silly, they'll blow you up

 These critters are very much being painted as Generic Rats because, well, they are. I've also started to paint up the Genestealer Cult Saboteur's bomb marker, which will probably end up being a generic objective marker in Necromunda games. The three Giant Rats at the back are going to be painted like more of my old pet rats, although which ones I haven't yet decided.

Still, a pretty successful day of painting, and sets me up nicely to get the Bomb Rats all done tomorrow.

Painting Points:
Today: 1
This Week: 18
2024: 217 (368)

Some Small Creatures

Nothing particularly major today, but I did take the time to immortalise some pets in miniature form:

Kiki and Binx (the cats that currently live with my partner P and I):

Kiki (l) is from Bad Squiddo Games and Binx (r) is from Troublemaker Games

The poses quite nicely reflect their personalities, although both are very cuddly in reality

Cookie, Mushi and Nimh (the first three rats we ever had):

Cookie was the most keen to explore and escape which is why she is the mutant with six legs - to get around faster!

Nimh actually had darker ears, so after this photo was taken I gave them a black wash

The cats are based for my 40K stuff, and can be familiars or even objective markers, while the rats are absolutely destined for Necromunda.

Painting Points:
Today: 5
This Week: 17
2024: 216 (367) - I have now done more than one PP per day for the whole year and it's not even over yet!

The Lex Never Rests

Merry Christmas, happy Hannukah, cheerful holidays and generally have a good day to all! And, for the particularly 40K-brained among you, lo Sanguinalia!

I have had a very pleasant morning and early afternoon, with presents, good company, and a nice walk, plus I managed to finish the Arbites. They've got quite a basic paintjob really, all things considered, but they're done and I like them and that's what matters. I ended up not bothering with transfers because not only could I not find my decal sheet for them, but it turns out that all the decals are white, which wouldn't look very good on the yellow pauldron anyway. 

But here they are:

Arbites with riot shotguns and grenade launcher, led by a Proctor, and including a cyber-mastiff and nuncio-Aquila to fly around broadcasting messages like REMAIN IN PLACE and THIS IS A SANCTIONED ACTION, that sort of thing

There may not be a Judge Dredd but there is a Proctor Bleak

Arbites riot control squad with suppression shields and shock mauls, led by an Under-Proctor

Again with the amusing names. Arbite Dire is good, but Arbite Crool was absolutely a stretch

They add a bit of serious aggression and fear to the House Helmawr Hive Primary Enforcers and can be attached to my 40K Inquisition forces in a pinch despite the decidedly non-sandy bases. I'm definitely going to get at least another box, to bulk up Under-Proctor Vex's squad to ten and add a squad of bolter-armed Arbites for when the riot really needs putting down. Eventually I'll probably 3d-print some Repressor parts and mount them all in Repressors.

Painting Points:
Today: 12
This Week: 12
2024: 211 (362)

Christmas Eve - So Close To Completion!

Well, I nearly managed to get the Arbites done today. I just have some decals, the bases, and the names to go:

I opted, in the end, to slap some dark blue highlights on their cloth uniforms and leave all the armour the flat black (except on the cyber mastiff, which got a coat of gloss). That provides enough of a distinction between the materials and is easier to paint, too.

The decals will be something from the Arbites decal sheet on their right shoulder pauldron, either a number or the Arbites emblem. Whatever I think is going to look coolest, honestly.

In other news, I got an early Christmas present today:

This boosts my Clan Jade Falcon force up to, essentially, a very small Cluster of two Binaries. Or it will do once I get hold of the Mercenaries Kickstarter (and the Alpha Strike box will add more Clan mechs too). Essentially I now have a Star each of light, medium, heavy and assault 'mechs. That said, I'm not entirely sure that Dire Wolf will be getting a Falcon Guards paint job, because...

On the left, the Iron Wind Metals Dire Wolf, on the right, the new Catalyst Game Labs version

 The game that got me into the Battletech universe was Mechwarrior 4: Mercenaries, and in that I almost always ended up piloting a Daishi (Dire Wolf) with three clan LBX-AC-20s and an LRM system. As your call sign in that game is Spectre, I named the Dire Wolf Death and gave it a white paintjob. That mini on the left in the picture is the version I painted up when I was at university, probably some time around 2005-6. The dragonfly on the left leg is a copy of one of my then best friend's tattoos. So there's some temptation to create a new, modern version of Spectre's ride, Death. On the other hand, maybe I'll give in and paint it in the three-tone camouflage of the Falcon Guards, and put it into the Assault Star... who knows.

Tomorrow is Christmas, so I may or may not get time to do the finishing touches to the Arbites. Depends how much of a food coma Christmas dinner leaves me in, really!

Stomm, Drokk, And Other Such Words

Work continues on the Arbites. I've done their gold elements, based and washed the metals, finished the webbing, boots and gloves, and highlighted the red bits. There's still a fair few things to do, but the biggest task left is going to be painting over all the green, gold, red and metallic bits on the black areas! Then it'll be a case of applying some highlights, differentiating their black armoured sections from their black cloth sections, skin, and basing. So not too far to go. I might even be able to get them done tomorrow (maybe).

The robo-dog (ok, cyber-mastiff) in the bottom left is mostly done I think, I just need to work out how to paint the bits of dog that aren't cybernetic or armoured. I might just go for a sand and black colour like a German Shepherd, although it looks more like it's meant to be a Rottweiler. The floating megaphone-drone is also basically done - just a few details and then the ruined building part, which I'm probably going to paint in much the same way as the rest of the base I think.

Which means that (as they say): Grud! They're nearly ready to dispense JUSTICE!

We Are The Lex

I have done a bit of work on the Arbites, drybrushing the boots and gloves and painting the webbing, both in preparation for some washes - Biel-Tan Green on the boots and gloves, and Athonian Camoshade on the webbing. The different colours will give a reasonable facsimile of different material types, and, of course, are thoroughly based on...

 

 

...Judges from 2000AD, of course! After all, the Arbites are in and of themselves essentially just a straight steal of the Judge aesthetic in the first place, so why not?

No IP infringement here no sirree

I also did a bit of work on the giant rats, touching up the undercoat with a coat of black and then blocking in the tails, paws, ears and noses, all in preparation for painting them up like some of the pet rats my partner P and I have had in the past.

Tomorrow is the dreaded Christmas Food Shop, so if I survive that I'll unwind with some more painting and see how much I can get done on the Arbites - who knows, if I get the chance I might get them done before Christmas Day!

Praise Be To The Burny Fellows

I finally, finally finished them. They took days longer than I expected, and they're done. Hurrah! 

A bad photo sadly but they look great all finished up

Slightly better photo showing how lovely the fire motif looks on both red and yellow

The whole lot is a gang in and of itself, but can also be mixed into my Unworthy Servants Cawdor gang as well if I fancied it. I am particularly pleased with the way the robes ended up and how the burning hats ended up through a mix of contrast, washes, and paint.

I also took the time today to finish making the free minis I got from Wargames Illustrated and Miniature Wargames:

German late-war paratroopers in winter gear that have been turned into Trench Crusade Heretic Naval Infantry Legionnaires and Troopers

I think that the paint scheme on these minis will really make them fit into the Trench Crusade aesthetic more - as it stands they are, after all, just Fallschirmjager!

Then, on the front of Miniature Wargames, there was a sprue of Wargames Atlantic's Sneakfeet - these are Ratling Snipers with the serial numbers filed off, who are in turn of course Hobbits (in space) with the serial numbers filed off...

Haven't decided how to base them yet

I deliberately picked the smaller guns on the sprue because I think they'll probably end up being Generic Sci-Fi sorts for something like Five Parsecs From Home or Space Station Zero.

Having knocked out the Redemptionists, I'm a bit unsure as to what to work on next - I might actually have a break from painting for a bit! Who knows. 

Painting Points:
Today: 7
This Week: 7
2024: 198 (349)

Oops, A Distraction

I don't know if you've noticed but Tuomas Pirinen, him of Mordheim and Warhammer Fantasy 6th Edition fame, along with some other creative types has made a ridiculously successful Kickstarter for a new skirmish wargame called TRENCH CRUSADE. Trench Crusade is an alternate universe / alt-history 1914 where the First Crusade accidentally released Hell onto Earth, and so the next thousand years or so have been a long war against Satan's Legions and their various human auxiliaries and soldiers. There's a lot more information out there, I recommend this Goonhammer article for starters.

Anyway, I did some painting on my Redemptionists - blocked out the skin, did the flames apart from the gloss varnish, and started the hair - and then, after picking up a copy of Wargames Illustrated with a sprue of Warlord Games' winter-uniformed Fallschirmjager stuck to the front, decided to rummage in my bits box and make some Heretic Naval Raiders...

They're so close to done. So close. It's painful now

You can see some bits and pieces in the bottom left corner of that photo from the Warlord Games' frame. I opened up the playtest Trench Crusade rules (available on the Facebook group, here) and had a look at what a Heretic Trooper actually has available. As I'm doing Naval Raiders, they get access to sub-machine guns, which is quite nice, so I'm going to do three with SMGs, one with an automatic shotgun, and then two Legionaries with a machine gun and a semi-auto rifle (later to be upgraded to an automatic rifle).

They might look like Germans from the late war, but if you look at their belts you can see some hearts dangling from straps... uh oh! These guys are Heretic Legionaries, with better accuracy than the regular Troopers, and funky padded trousers to help differentiate them. I think that the paint scheme is going to do a lot of work making it clear what they are - strange, deathly pale skin, esoteric runes on their helmets, dark blue naval infantry type uniforms...

Not entirely sure what sort of conversions I could do to make things like an Artillery Witch, or a Heretic Priest, but we'll see. Part of the problem I'm having is that the scale of the Warlord Games' minis is not really compatible with the bulk of my bits box, which is almost entirely Games Workshop's heroic scale stuff. Anyway, that's for another day. Who knows, maybe tomorrow I'll finally have finished those Redemptionists.

Only In Basing Does Duty End

And I haven't quite got to that stage yet but I am now tantalisingly close to it. I actually sat down for a couple of hours this evening and did the belts, pouches, grenades, books, highlighted the gold trim and masks, washed the nooses so that they look done, and did the first step on the flame-hats (which actually look really good as is, if very different to the way I usually do flames). They're definitely looking a lot closer to how I imagined them when I first picked them up to do:

I just wish it hadn't taken me seven days (!) to get this far! Oh well. Nearly there, and all that.

What Happens When The Mojo Slips

I'm not sure quite what it is, but I'd hoped to do a lot more painting this weekend than I actually have. I didn't do any yesterday - hence no update on the ol' blog - and today I only did a little bit. I painted almost all the books a dark green, went over the pipes, gloves and boots with black, and painted the belts and pouches in a dark brown (which, incidentally, I also drybrushed over the ends of all the flame weapons). It's just blocking things out for highlights, and in theory it shouldn't take too long to finish the details and move onto the bigger things like the flame-hats and the like, but I just... haven't felt like it. A bit disappointing but there you go.

The flame patterns on the robes look great though!

I have however named them - this little lot comes to 1,000 creds pretty much exactly and can be found with the extremely uninspiring name of "Red Redemption" over at YakTribe. So I know what to paint on their bases when they get to that point. Whenever that is.

Detail Time Starts Now

Having finished the process of highlighting the robes and armour, I have now begun to work on the details. By which I mean I've painted the nooses they wear on their belts in Ushabti Bone, which, if I'd been thinking, I'd've done before I painted the robes with Agrax Earthshade. Ah well. Live and learn.

I think the colour scheme of red, black, and yellow is both really striking and really sinister, as well as giving a good link to the obsession they have with fire. I'm not sure how long they'll take to finish, hopefully I'll be able to get them done this weekend.

Starting The Highlighting

Not a great deal of progress today, although it did feel like it. Slapped some Cryptek Armourshade onto the gold and bronze sections, applied the first highlight of Khorne Red to the robes, and that was it - took longer than expected for some odd reason. 

Next up - Mephiston Red highlights on the robes and the armour, then some work on the yellow and maybe some Wild Rider Red on the armour to pick some bits out. After that it's detail work really.