The Army Painter are awesome
Posted by : G | Friday, July 2, 2010 | Published in Army Painter
Space Marine Chaplain
Posted by : G | Tuesday, June 22, 2010 | Published in painting, space marine chaplain
In the meantime a good friend of mine asked me to paint a Space Marine Chaplain in Terminator Armour for him. It was the first time I have worked with a non-modded white metal model with so much detail, but I was really happy with the end results. Following the excellent tips from Ron on From The Warp and Dave Taylor amongst others I avoided using any actual white or black on the model (aside from a black primer).
FRONT:
BACK:
Click to see fullsized piccies :)
The colours used were Charandon Granite Foundation for the armour, highlighted with 50:50 Charandon Granite + Bleached Bone. I then gave them three coats of wash with Badab Black.
For the bronze/gold pieces I painted them in Mithril Silver then applied three coats of Gryphon Sepia and finally highlighted with Shining Gold.
The scrollwork was Beached Bone, then a wash with Gryphon Sepia, Devlan Mud and Badab Black with a drybrush of Bleached Bone to finish.
The stand (from DragonForge) was Deneb Stone washed with Devlan Mud with Badab Black in the cracks, then edged with Bleached Bone and finished with another wash of Devlan Mud.
The eyes were Enchanted Blue with two coats of Wet Effect on them
Because metal minis are a bit prone to chipping I gave him two coats of Army Painter's Matt Varnish.
Thousand Sons Honour Guard
Posted by : G | Tuesday, May 18, 2010 | Published in Army Painter, Dip, Matt Varnish, Strong Shade, Thousand Sons
Following the modelling and red primer I have painted in all the flat colours and then used the Army Painter "Strong Shade" dip. I was quite nervous about using it first time but it turned out really well though quite shiny. I took the shine off with the Army Painter Matt Varnish spray.
Here are some piccies:
One thing worth pointing out is how damn quick it was to paint the miniatures this way and I am very happy with the outcome:
Flickr Photo Album
EDIT: Just realised the photos of the two honour guards with spears was *before* I sprayed the Matt Varnish...
EDIT 2: I've added some more photos in better lighting including my newly finished Possessed Chaos Space Marine who is painted in a tiny bit of Blood Red, some Bleached Bone, lots of wash coats and finally Strong Tone dip from Army Painter:
Thousand Sons version 2
Posted by : G | Wednesday, May 12, 2010 | Published in Thousand Sons
Anyway time for an update:
I have been making customised Thousand Son honour guard with a mix of Thousand Suns metal heads, and plastic bodies added to shields ordered from Maxmini, custom polearms made from Tomb King Kopeshes and polearms, and custom cloaks made by me using green stuff.
Once I had completed the initial modelling I primed them using the Army Painter "Dragon Red" spray which I have to say I am very impressed with - the red is a beautiful deep red that the photo can't really do justice.
Next step is to finish the other flat colours, and then for my next bit of experimentation I have been using the Army Painter Strong Tone dip.
Anyway for parts one and two here are some photos to give a feel of how they are getting on:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gobion/sets/72157624047199034/
Catch up
Posted by : G | Monday, April 12, 2010 | Published in catch up, painting red
In the meantime, if you have not seen it check out Ron's post on painting red. It really got me thinking and I am attempting to bring the techniques into my own painting:
http://fromthewarp.blogspot.com/2010/04/blood-angels-how-to-paint-red.html
*EDIT*
Also worth checking out is this guide to painting red: http://stuck-between-stations.blogspot.com/2010/01/tutorial-painting-red.html on Stuck Between Stations. He uses Thrakka Green! :)
Thousand Sons Pre-Heresy Codex
Posted by : G | Saturday, March 27, 2010 | Published in Chaos Space Marines, codex, Thousand Sons
So the first step I have taken is to work my way through the Collected Visions of the Horus Heresy and extract all the named Thousand Sons units in the book and then work out their equivalent units from the Chaos Space Marine Codex. Here is what I have come up with - comments welcome!
HQ/Heroes
- Ahriman – Chief Librarian of the Thousand Sons
- Brother Amsu – Thousand Sons Standard Bearer (Chaos Lord)
- Rehahti (Daemon Prince)
- Phosis T'kar
- Uthizarr
- Hathor Maat
- Onouris Neith
- Prahotpe
- Ankhet
- Meketre
- Apophis
- Jafari
- Khalmekt
- Tolbek
- Hesyr
- Pa-Siamun
- Lekmeht
- Menkaura
- Mekahta
- Besenmut
- Amunis
- Hasani
- Sobek
- Amensos
- Nebmaetre
- Sainheret
- Khalid
- Chaggrat
- Sekhmet
- Phosis
- Ankhu Anen
- Kargori
- Khnum
- Khontackht
- Seraphis
- Qaa
- Ju-Amun
* I've listed the Scouts as Chosen Chaos Space Marines because there is no exact equivalent but Chosen CSMs can Infiltrate which is something they share with scouts.
** I've included Possessed Chaos Space Marines as Chaggarats as they are listed in the Collected Visions as "Despoilers" and frankly look pretty heretical to me. If you want to play a clean pre-Heresy force field them as Chosen Chaos Space Marines instead.
*** The Obliterator Cult / Ankhu Anen as listed here are also quiet Chaotic, so if you want to keep em clean I recommend fielding them as Terminators.
Finished 1st Squad Thousand Sons
Posted by : G | Wednesday, March 24, 2010 | Published in painting tricks, Thousand Sons, warhammer 40k
- Painting works best when it is White undercoat; Baal Red Wash all over; Blood Red; Baal Red Wash darklights; Blazing Orange highlights. Symbols painted in Burnished Gold. I initially used an undercoat of Mechrite Red Foundation immediately after the White undercoat but it made them too dark.
- Always add a contrasting colour if you can. I was a bit stuck as the pictures in the Collected Visions limited my palette, but where I could I gave the marines Enchanted Blue & Gold shoulder pads.
- In future I am thinking of using more Blazing Orange than just Blood Red - turns out you can give the impression of red without using too much red :)
- Dragon Forge bases are awesome and the Steam Knight helmets from MaxMini were perfect - I can't recommend them enough. Just those helmets with no other major customisation made a huge difference.
- I want to do more drilling and pinning - it is the best way to get clean edges.
Thousand Sons so far
Posted by : G | Tuesday, March 16, 2010 | Published in crocodile games, dragon forge, maxmini, Thousand Sons
Crocodile Games sent me a free figure to preview their upcoming range and it was a beaut :)
Here you can see the work in progress. The attempted halberd/boltgun centre top row didn't really work and I removed it and replaced it with a standard bolter. However I really like his backpack banner and the one one on ancient power armour marine (second from left bottom row),
I've also replaced the skull helmet (second from left, top row) with another Steam Knight helmet from Minimax as the skull wasn't Egytianesque for me.
You can see the lovely Egyptian banner from Crocodile Games second from the right, top row which will look ace when finished and I replaced the power sword on the mini second from right, bottom row, with a giant kopesh which looks much more Thousand Sons.
I've started all the bases, but the two most complete are the one far left and center on the bottom row.
Really really enjoying painting the bases - lots of lovely detail to use.
A great post on tricks for painting
Posted by : G | Monday, March 15, 2010 | Published in From the Warp, painting tricks
From the Warp
Posted by : G | Saturday, March 13, 2010 | Published in From the Warp, warhammer 40k
From my perspective I have found some really awesome blogs through there, so if you are a Warhammer 40k fan I cannot recommend checking it out enough. Also Ron, who runs it, is really friendly. I look forward to collaborating and contributing :)
http://www.fromthewarp.blogspot.com/
Thousand Son production line
Posted by : G | Friday, March 12, 2010 | Published in maxmini, pre-Heresy, Thousand Sons, warhammer 40k
Which means I have got my production line all set up... check them out :)
Almost finished:
Need painting:
Assembled:
GMing Tip: "Three Things"
Posted by : G | Monday, March 8, 2010 | Published in GM, gming, memorable moments, roleplaying, three things
- One should be all about your character - be selfish - this one is all about you baby!
- One should be team related - what would you like the team to have to face?
- The third can be about anything - about you, the team or something I've not thought of.
- A fight scene you would like ("On a rooftop in the rain" or "zero-g fight in space station with knives only")
- A chase you'd like ("Grav bikes charging down a series of alleys" or "a foot chase through a corporate office")
- Some personal development ("A marriage/relationship scene for my character" or "A death in the family")
- A comedic scene
Pre-Heresy Thousand Sons Space Marines Part 1
Posted by : G | Sunday, March 7, 2010 | Published in crocodile games, dragon forge, maxmini, pre-Heresy, Thousand Sons, warhammer 40k, wayland games
Having been sucked in by the loveliness that is the Collected Visions of the Horus Heresy, I decided (possibly rashly) to make myself a force of pre-Heresy Thousand Sons.
Before making any pre-Heresy space marines I cannot recommend reading the following two sites enough:
To get the basics I started with a box of Chaos Space Marines from Wayland Games, and chose the bits that most resembled Mark IV and Mark V armour.
You can see my first test painted miniature and the pre-painted models of the rest of my first squad here.
Before I can do much more I am waiting for a set of Steam Knight heads to arrive from MaxMini, various Egyptian-themed accessories from Crocodile Games and some lovely 40mm bases from Dragon Forge
Some piccies of my modelling
Posted by : G | Monday, March 1, 2010 | Published in 40k, cadian, hillside village, mordian, terrain
I've promised some piccies of my modelling work - very early stage stuff for me, and I finally got near the pieces in daylight so was able to grab a few photos.
I've uploaded some piccies of my Warhammer 40k terrain and scenery so far along with my current Imperial Guard who have modded Cadian armour but I went for a Mordian colour scheme :)
See the full set of pictures in a handy slideshow here
Where I get my stuff
Posted by : G | Sunday, February 28, 2010 | Published in accessories, bases, conversion bits, pre-Heresy, raw materials, scenery, terrain, Warhammer 30k, warhammer 40k
Several folks have asked where I get my bits and stuff - I have loads more links, but this will get you started - if you want more do feel free to comment! :)
Bits for conversions:
- MaxMini.eu - Check out the Steam Knight heads in conversion bits
- Pig Iron Productions - Also great for conversion bits
- Chapter House Studios - Lots of pre-Heresy stuff
- BitzBox - Good for bits :)
- Bits and Kits - Not bought anything from here yet - more expensive than BitsBox
- Dragon Forge - Lovely bases
- Miniature Men and Components (ebay)
Terrain supplies & resin models:
- Antenocitis Workshop - completely awesome! I buy lots from here - resin minis, raw materials, plasticard, etc.
- Fenris Games - Nice ebay shop - have my eye on a few things
- Foundations of War - Have bought from here :)
- 4D Models - Stock lots of styrofoam to all sizes (what some books refer to as high density polystyrene.
Cheaper Minis:
- Wayland Games - Usually 20% cheaper than GW
Blogs on Pre-Heresy Mini conversions:
- Not Done Yet- Start here! Awesome blog
- Eaters of Worlds -> Then here go here and read this lovely blog too.
- My Wargame -> nice details on creating Mark V power armour (check out the rest of the blog).
Enjoy!
Arabic-inspired hillside village
Posted by : G | Tuesday, February 23, 2010 | Published in hillside village, scenery, terrain, warhammer 40k
I will post up some images in the next couple of days.
Antenociti's Workshop
Posted by : G | Wednesday, February 10, 2010 | Published in accessories, Antenociti's Workshop, modelling supplies
I will write a post and show you the latest bits and pieces I ordered :)
My first construction project
Posted by : G | | Published in 40k, ruined farmhouse
I decided as my first bit of scenery making to construct a small tower and ruined farmhouse in an arabesque style for Warhammer 40K.
So I took regular foamboard, sketched out the walls in a line including the broken sections, cut them and stuck them together with a hot glue gun.
The next stage was liberally applying filler with a palette knife and then once that was dry sanding it down and painting it with teh GW Foundation paint: Dheneb Stone.
The third stage was applying a wash of Devlan Mud. In the top left of the pic you can see the tower I made in exactly the same style.
These three steps took me maybe half an hour over an evening :)
I will move on to the next steps in my next post
Welcome to Orb Drop
Posted by : G | Monday, February 8, 2010 | Published in 40k, games, miniatures, topics, welcome
- Roleplaying games (especially the Broken Shield Roleplaying game which I have written).
- Miniatures and scenery making (I am a addicted to Warhammer 40k).
- Computer games reviews.
- Board games reviews.
Yep, so it looks like it will be 100% gaming.
Oh yeah, about the name: "Orbdrop" is short for "Orbital Drop" - throwing soldiers out of spaceships in tiny atmospheric re-entry pods always seemed like a laugh to me...
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