Some other items (mostly old) - PHP

OKay so here we go:

below are a ton of non-eldar pics of various mini's. Some Vampire Counts I painted in days long since past, some tyranids i did up for our Dark Heresy game, a Beast Man that i used as a PC for a 4th ed D&D campaign, and an old fire elemental and mummy from Dragon Strike or Hero Quest (can't remember which). Just figured i'd share some of these with you. None are recent, and some (like the wolves, clearly need a good basing). Enjoy!

Fire Dragons

So as some of you may know, my Eldar army does not have much in the way of Elite choices. In fact, I have only one. And those are the lovely fire dragons. In time i would like to add Scorpions or Banshees, but for now it's just the Dragons. Here are a few quick shots of some of them (i have 6). They were the first miniatures i started painting just before we started this blog. All my citadel paints had dried up and i wasn't really sure i wanted to invest in a ton of paints. So i bought a $10 worth of $0.50 craft paints. These are the result. I Love how they turned out . . . but they are not amazing pieces. The paint could stand to be much thinner and the highlighting much more pronounced. However, i have no intentions of redoing them. I'm satisfied, and they have a great table appearance. Even if they didn't even net a 5 on Coolminiornot.

Troops! (PHP)

Below you will find some familiar troops, but with some newer photos. While i had the light box all set up, i wanted to snap a few photos of the completed units. Below you'll see some of my rangers (whose camo i'm particularly proud of), a handful of my guardians which are my least favorite and will eventually be replaced, and one original test miniature from over 10 years ago when i was originally planing to paint up a red color scheme. Now a days i just field the red Guardian as the 'heavy weapon' wielder.

A Treat + Wraithlord!

So below are a few neat shots. The first is one of 3 objective markers i'm working on. It is just an in progress shot. I plan on adding a slightly textured paint to it to make it appear like more of a stature and may also add more of a base. You should recognize the two bits: one from the Dire Avenger sprue and the cap of an old school citadel paint jar. Additionally below that you will see a poorly painted Eldar gravtank. I got that for $10 at a local hobby shop. A little bit of TLC and i should be able to make it a functional waveserpent.

Below are a few shots of my Wraithlord. He was completed long ago . . . but I added a new base, a weapon (which you may recognize for the walker as they are magnetized and interchangeable), and a fresh coat of matte finish. I'm satisfied with it, but not happy. My painting keeps improving with every miniature i paint, and thus i find myself less happy with each previously painted miniature.

War Walker - Picture Heavy Post (PHP)

Below are 9 photos of my War Walker. There are several close up detail shots, and full shots. As you can see, i'm still working on getting the best white balance and realistic photos. The whole model was base coated in black. The green sections where painted in three layers: Citadel Foundation: Orkhide Shade, Vallejo Model Flat Green, and Citadel Camo Green. The Grey/Brown sections where painted in three layers: Citadel Foundation: Dheneb Stone, Citadel Wash: Devlan Mud, and Citadel Kommando Khaki. Other bits have various levels of paint, mostly 2-4 layers.

Remember to click on the images to see larger views!

Lysander-to-Belial Conversion and the Light Box Pics!

April has been a bit productive for me. I'm generally base painting my terminators and some veteran space marines, but picked up Lysander to be the base for my Belial (Deathwing Commander) mini. You'll see the awesomeness that he comes with normally, but I may magnetize him to use lightning claws when I'd like. Let's get to the goods:


Lysander typically looks like this. The noteworthy barriers to a Belial conversion are the fists on his right knee guard, chest and shield, and also the fact that his hammer is a fist. With a pair of toe nail clippers (bought exclusively for modeling, of course), I cleared away each site to make room for some dark angel-specific flair. While the wings on the hammer were my favorite looking addition (glued over a ground down square where the fist used to be), I'm excited to put a heraldic pattern (seen on my other termies) on his chest, and the dark angel on his knee guard was ground down to roughly half its thickness in order to mold it to the contour of the mini. The actual shield was a pretty obvious conversion and was the easiest. I'm not 100% pleased with the thickness of the added piece, however, and may shave it down.


I'll keep some updates coming on him, but for now, I have some more pics of dudes taken in my new light box! I need to buy more lights, but it's a successful work in progress.


Brother Bethor, the Dark Angel Standard Bearer and some Vets.


This guy may see some use soon. With two unpainted buddies, he's been fun to look at, but hasn't been road rashing anyone or anything. (I may need to add a chain to one of the others!)


This is a favorite of a lot of folks. Asmodai used to be a character for the Dark Angels but has no 4th edition rules. The plate on his pack is probably recognizable as a variant faceplate for a dreadnought.


My first compete Deathwing Captain. I think I'll name him Hadron the Collider.


Tarkus is back with a better photo and is joined by the first of my new assault marines. The Gold helmet will only be on the Sgt.


Lastly, we have one of my most favorite minis and slight conversions. Made of a mishmash of pieces that I had lying around, this tech marine's one handed bolter and terminator powerfist arm really get me going.

That's all I have for tonight! I'll try to get some updated pics of Belial/Lysander and a space marine apothecary I'm working on soon!

April Update!

I've made large amounts of progress on the War Walker. Just putting the final layer of highlight on the body. Then i have to paint up the pilot and cockpit. I've also only painted the requisite x2 guns ... so the remaining weapons need to be painted up as well.

I've also based and primed my entire Vampire Counts army. Now, it's not really my intention to start a new project. But i was thinking about selling the whole thing. Possibly painting it up first. Just a 3 layer paint job (base, 1st layer, highlight) to give it an even table ready appearance.

I figure if i painted it up nice enough, and included the types of paints i used, anyone who bought it could add to the army in the same color scheme. To me, the biggest downfall of buying a pre-painted army is that you get all the mis-matched jobs and your army looks like crap on the table. But if you are provided a paint list, and it's a simple job. You can at least add to it with some manner of cohesion.

So this is just an update of what i've been up to, when not working, running my pathfinder campaign, or planning a wedding.

Lets see some more Space Marines, Tau, and Grey Knights aye? I know there are more then just Bill and I in this Grim Dark Kitchen.

Tactical Squad Complete!

So last October I discussed the new paint scheme that I'm pursuing with my Dark Angels. I started with a tactical squad from one of the box sets and have finished it. Since then, I've also bought a Vindicator, which is currently outfitted as a Rhino and included below.



The paint scheme has really turned out to my pleasure, though it looks a bit brighter in these camera shots than it usually does in the grim darkness of my home. I find that the mixed, heraldic look has nice table presence, also.



Above and below, you can see that some of the power packs are Dark Angels-specific bits that I scored from a buddy down here who got the DA sprues to liven up his chaos marines. Particularly with these rank and file, simply-posed marines, the packs bring just enough variation without being gaudy. (At least not within this context - golden skulls with swords through them are unfortunately not everyone's cup of tea.)



Here, we have the sergeant, who I've named for Sgt. Tarkus, in 40k's Dawn of War II. Bald, pragmatic and effective, I hope my Sgt. will take after his namesake on the table. It's not very clear here, but this is probably my most successful face paint job.



Next up are a couple pics of the Rhino. It's taken a lot of work to get to a point where I dig it. Color choices and patterns really weren't doing much for me at first, but some of the painted-on effects such as the tactical arrow and heavy weapons blast in red and the caution stripes, along with the large purity seals on the front, have brought it together for me. Even now, it may have some work ahead of it, like throwing some dirt onto those treads.



A cool thing about this model is that it is actually a Vindicator tank, which happens to come with all of the necessary Rhino bits - as well as the body modifications to turn it into a Predator - though it is missing a turret. I'll post soon about the magnetizing and prep that I've gone through to make this body an interchangeable base for either tank type.



Next up, you may have noticed the downed imperial ship in the background. This is one of five pieces included in the Battle for Macragge box set. It's turned out very well, though it looks a bit like a spacewolf ship without my intending to do so.



It offers a bit of detail work here with the port engine laid open. Again, the caution stripes do a lot for me in this piece by drawing the eye from the body and rubble, right into the heart of the model.



Lastly, I have finished the first five of my Deathwing terminators, first seen last October. I'm only now realizing that I never put anything on the scroll of my Sgt's chest.... I guess I'll have to give that some thought, or at least give it a weathered look. I'm trying to minimize the number of gaunt, bald, white guys I bring to a game, so I gave this Deathwing officer some style.



I'll check back soon with the Vindicator and some other forms of transport!