August 2020 - New Project: Kharadron Overlords

 Hi again!

When my 1000pts of Nighthaunt were nearly finished I decided to keep my momentum going by switching to a new project with very different design principles.

I've always loved the Kharadron Overlord fluff and figures but had been intimidated by how detailed their models look. I decided that instead of the speed-oriented approach I had taken with the Nighthaunt I'd plan out another small 1000 point list (I just love projects of this size) and really take my time using traditional brushwork rather than airbrush or contrast paint workarounds.

Here is the initial result of my test scheme. This is the exact same process done over two different basecoats, one a reddish brown and the other a flat black. No other prep before getting to brushwork! Just a flat black undercoat and then layering everything by hand. Outside of a spot of dry-brushing on the metals to tie them together this is all done by brush, and I'm quite happy with how they both turned out!

This is also my first time painting almost exclusively in neutral colors, as my schemes usually go for bright tones that pop and give me strong complimentary colors. This feels very refreshing to me, and I love the earthy and realistic tones I've got out of sticking to the neutral creams and browns.

Painting these chaps has been a really refreshing experience and I'm in the process of finishing off their 10-man squad before moving onto a few more infantry and than an airship or two. More to come!

July 2020 - Nighthaunt Army

Hello dear reader!

Self-isolation during the Covid-19 pandemic earlier this year proved to be a productive time for my hobby. In addition to finishing nearly 1000 points of Imperial Fists I managed to build and paint the bulk of a 1000 points of Nighthaunt. In both cases I am still 2-5 models away from being fully finished but I'm super pleased with how the armies turned out, and really enjoyed painting forces of this size where you do a few basic troops, a few elite, and a single larger centerpiece.

These Nighthaunt were my first time using the new GW contrast paints and I enjoyed the experience, both the red and blue/turquoise components were put down using a few layers of contrast over a cream off-white base color. I made the red pop a bit more with some shading and higlighting, but it still allowed me to crack out a batch of 30 chainrasps in a single go without losing my mind.

For the Black Coach and the Spirit Hosts I used an airbrush to get some preshading done before putting my ghostly contrast paints over it, but i'm a little less happy with the results. The pre-shading looked promising (you can see an example in the Knight of Shrouds at the bottom that I've yet to paint) but in practice I think the effect was a bit unfocused and messy. It turned out a lot better on the spirit hosts where I did a far lighter amount of preshading. The coached only looks passable to me, but it's saved a little by how busy the model itself is. Ah well, lessons learned!

But overall I'm quite happy with these guys, and proud of myself for cracking out this whole force in about two months. It is absolutely a personal record!

Example of my airbrush pre-shading on the Knight of Shrouds.

Imperial Fists - Captain/Tor Garadon

Hey all!

This Imperial Fist Captain is a light conversion of Tor Garadon. I just swapped out the head so I didn't have to deal with big-chin McGee.

I have to say, I was really blown away with Garadon's model, it's such a dynamic and exciting pose while still having so much bulk and heft to it and feeling rock solid.

Additionally, the assembly is amazing. 95% of the cape is one piece and was able to be painted separately, along with the backpack as well, so it let me make the most of the blends on the cape and get at all the detailing on each piece. Went together like a dream after all that as well.

He feels like a perfect balance between the older more modular approach to 40k sculpts where you'd get distinct arms/legs, etc. and the newer CAD sculpts. It reminded me why GW is still at the absolute pinnacle of miniature sculpting and I can understand why I've seen so many conversions of it now!

April 2020 - Imperial Fists, the Triumphant Return

We are back! The world may be gripped  in the throes of a pandemic, and the last proper post on this blog may have been in July 2018, but the hobby has come storming back into my life with a vengeance and I felt it was time for a glorious exhumation of this blog.

I want to start with the fruits of my hobby labour over the last eight months. In late-fall I began to feel the familiar itch to start a new project and went looking for a fun technique to employ for inspiration. I settled on a Primaris-only Imperial Fists army for a few reasons:

1. Lends itself to a small-scale army with few figures
2. A simple but excellent recipe for vibrant yellow (link here)
3. The Primaris figures are lovely

The yellow recipe comes from Chapter Master Valrak, the internet's greatest Imperial Fist proponent. I substituted his use of Lamenter's Yellow as a glaze (now out of production) with a mix of vallejo yellow ink and vallejo glaze medium. Worked a charm!

I cut my teeth on an initial ten marines and a captain in gravis armor in the fall of last year. Once Covid-19 hit I had a lot more time on my hands so I threw myself back into the army and churned out a unit of aggressors, a repulsor executioner, and a librarian. Here's what we've got so far:

Group shot without librarian

Aggressors unit.

Repulsor Executioner with liberal oil wash for weathering.

Repulsor bum.

Primaris Librarian, probably my best painted figure yet.

The cloak is done with multiple shading glazes and vallejo weathering pigment for the dark staining.

The remaining minis on the painting block for this army include:

• Primaris Lieutenant
• Five man intercessor squad
• Tor Garadon

Once these are done i'll have a 1000 point battleline force to play around with. Tor Garadon is going to replace the gravis captain, whose paintjob I don't love. I'll make a new post for the army in all it's glory once it's complete.

Many many thanks to any returning readers, and I look forward to once again contributing to this blog. I hope you are keeping well and staying safe!