Sprue Whispering

I was asked by a couple of subscribers for a better picture of my Angron kit-bash. So here it is... I made a little animated gif of him. And for those of you, whom the gif doesn't work, here are the still-shots. I will probably add more fur to the cloak and a few chains with skulls, to represent the skulls of his former comrades, left behind on Desh'elika Ridge. I will post an update when I work on the cloak.

Today it's all about the base. Well actually, as I was working on the Angron and Khârn kit-bashes, I decided I should really get stuck into making the bases for the World Eaters Tactical and Rampagers Squads.  Whilst the basic method for making the bases is pretty similar to what I usually do, I wanted to create more of a broken city-scape feeling, like you would have had on Istvaan III, whilst the Heresy Legions Scoured their own ranks. So picture broken and crumbling city walls, of course with the obligatory Skulls. Remember this is the grim dark. So for this I started off with the usual 32mm bases and broke up cork, affixing with super glue. I left little "indents" in the cork, so I could place some skulls. After I did this I covered the bases in PVA glue and sprinkled a very fine grade of grit and some fine grade ballast. When the weather cools down, I will fire up the Airbrush and spray this up in grey tones, to reflect building walls. More to come.

Shoulder pads pad on my World Eaters Tactical squad continues. I haven't finished them yet, as it's too hot to use my Vallejo Old Gold, which dries out before I can properly apply it. I might switch the acrylic version, just to get it done.  Apart from that, here is a sneak peak at my recipe for the graduated blue of the shoulders pauldrons/pads. VGA Imperial Blue - Base VGA Electric Blue - Highlight  VGA Wolf Grey - Extreme Highlight I glaze this back with a glaze mix of Imperial Blue and Vallejo Glaze Medium. VGA Dead White - Edge Highlight, if required. More to come.

Work continues on the Leviathan, this time I get stuck into the base.  I started with getting my rich Thousand Sons red and the obligatory skulls painted onto the base miniatures. I was asked, again, "what red was I using? ",so I included a picture of the Minitaire Ghost Tint Blood Red, for reference, the next time one of you pop into your local FLGS. Let's hope it start cooling down out this way, so I can get stuck into painting, properly. At the moment I am stealing about 10-15 mins early morning and very very late at night, to paint.  More to come.

With all the hot weather we've been having, my airbrush was drying out the paint before it got to the miniature. So while this was happening, I thought I would take some time to continue kit-bashing the "top brass" from the World Eaters. And this time I continued with Khârn. I was reading the history of  Khârn and even got sidetracked on Eternal Hunt's recounting of the lore.  Kudos should go to Eternal Hunt, his article was very detailed and inspiring.  Reading through the articles, Eternal Hunt highlighted a few basic iconic things that every depiction of Khârn has: Chain Axe - Gorechild Plasma Pistol. Hair tassles and skulls on the helmet Chains everywhere, but mostly about on the wrists Chest breathing apparatus. Jes Goodwin started the legacy of Khârn with his concept drawing. So given this, I set out to build a version of Khârn based on the Aspiring Deathbringer with Goreaxe. I cut away the lower legs and added Chaos Terminator Lord lo...

So I was trawling on Pintrest, as one does, when I saw a picture that caught my eye. A scratch-built version of Angron by Biohazard.   Courtesy - Biohazard - DakkaDakka Forum Looking at it I realized I could probably make a version of my own. I had most of the parts, laying about. So after looking at the Slaughter Priest head, body, Blood Secrator tabard, some Blood Reaver and Wrath Monger parts, chest armor and I started building a new version. Adding the Blood Reaver, Blood Warrior axe arms and building out the Shoulder Pauldrons with a decent amount of Green Stuff. Now I just have to add the Butcher's Nails and the Chain Axes. More to come.

While I was doing the skin for the Rampagers, I quickly polished off the skin on the Wolf Scouts. While I was working on these folks, I realized I should really get off my backside and finish them... maybe after I finish off the World Eater Squads. I need to bit of a change from nearly two years of painting the Wolves.

Progress on the skin for the Rampagers, but first a sneak peak at the recipe I use. Base - Vallejo Game Air (VGA) Dwarf Skin Shade - Vallejo Game Ink (VGI) Skin Wash 1st Highlight - Vallejo Model Color (VMC) Beige Red 2nd Highlight - Vallejo Model Color (VMC) Light Flesh Extreme/Edge Highlight - Vallejo Game Color (VGC) Dead White  And this is how it turns out on the Rampagers. More to come.

Just Wow. What more can I say? I was watching the Beasts of War Weekender  when I saw them show a sneak preview of this gaming mat, called Forges of Mars , by Gamemat.eu . And I have to say this is probably one of the most impressive gaming mats I have seen, to date. The details look much crisper than my current FAT mats.  The one caveat is that it is only a limited release, folks. So you'll have to get it quick!! And have a look at their pre-painted Gothic ruins, too. They look to be pretty good value.

As I was already working on the skin tones for the Rampagers, I thought I would start doing the skin on the Wolf Scouts at the same time. More to come.

It has been a long time since I made any real post about my efforts on Zone Mortalis. A lot of this is due to working on too many projects and not quite having good enough modelling options to rival the ForgeWorld originals. Mantic Battlezone Scenery is a fantastic alternate to the ForgeWorld Zone Mortalis boards, but they lacked a certain internal detailing that really brought character to the board. Well, that as until the made the Industrial Quadrant available for pre-order . When you combine this set with the traditional Battlezones Quadrant, you should be able to make a sufficiently nice enough and modular Zone Mortalis board, if you pair it with an Industrial FAT mat. I think I will actually get off my back-side and start working on this ... well maybe after I finish up a few of my current projects <cough cough>.

Some progress on the Rampagers, with work beginning on the skin. It is my usual recipe of Vallejo Game Air Dwarf Flesh, washed back with Vallejo Game Color Flesh Wash. Just have to wait for the wash to dry before I finish off the skin tones. More to come.

Well, finally an alternate that may do justice to Leman Russ, in lieu of the ForgeWorld release. And when that drops, will make a fantastic Ragnar Blackmane. Wargames Exclusive images were leaked by Spikey Bitz . Awesome, hey? I will be adding one to the collection, when it becomes available.

Just a quick note to let you know I haven't forgotten about my Heavy Bolter marine, just working a little slower on this one. More to come.

Finally got some time to prime, base-coat with Vallejo Game Air Steel and re-coated with Minitaire Ghost-tint Blood Red. Still a little patchy, so I will have to give it a third coat to even up the color. You can see what I mean, below, as portions still look a little too silver. Thousand Sons are a lot easier to paint than, Vlka Fenryka and World Eaters. After the red, I will do my usual gold effects,  and paint the tabards with a Vallejo Game Air Bleached Bone mix. More to come.

My test Rampager is nearing completion. Just some final cleaning up of details, sealing with gloss varnish and ending with oil washes.  This is a good thing, as I have more primed and base-coated, ready to begin. More to come.

So I had a few Spellcrow and Kromlech bits lying about. Enough to make five jump pack assault marines, to be exact. So I just had to put them together. Five new 40k Assault Marine legs, Kromlech torsos, B@C heads and Spellcrow backpacks. I also sprinkled in a few CCW from both the upgrade sprue and the Wolf pack boxes.  I quick build, all in all. It will likely be a quick and fun job to paint. Anyways, have to get back to the backlog of painting projects.

Yup. I caved. Two (2) Knight Titans and a piece of scenery for the price of a single Knight Titan box? That equation was just too tempting and a bit of a no-brainer. So what do I intend on doing? A Vlka Fenryka (Space Wolves) Knight Titan, of course, and a Traitor Renegade Knight Titan. I started with working through how to magnetize/modularise the weapons, starting with the Avenger Gatling Cannon.  "Why this one first?" I hear you ask. Well, I figure, regardless of whatever Knight I start building, I will be using this puppy. The Renegade can carry dual Avenger Gatling Cannons, And I want the option to swap out this, if I want to use a Meltagun or Battle Cannon. So enough with the talking, what did I do? First I assembled the receiver end, or arm end of the weapon. Interestingly, I inserted some styrene telescopic tubing into this side, and butted the large diameter piping up against the far rear cap (the one with the Mechanicum skull), whilst I was assembling the ar...

Here are some progress pictures on may World Eaters Tactical Squad Sergeant.  First up the torso, legs and backpack.    And no with the rest of the "bling". I still need to finish the helmet and axe. I have a shoulder pad ready to go, but I haven't attached this, yet, because I still need to work through ho I will finish up his axe. More to come.