Enter the Nurgling

A shoulder to cry on

2012-01-29T14:17:00.000-08:00

I gave the DP's shoulder pad to my Ultraforge model, so as a personal challenge, I wanted to try to emulate it as best I could with GS. Still some touching up to do, but I'm mostly happy with how it's coming along.

Daemon Princes (part 03)

2012-01-21T06:11:00.000-08:00

A side by side shot of my two Daemon Princes. You can just kinda start to see some of the WIP conversions I'm making to my Finecast Nurgle Prince.

Stop S.O.P.A.

2012-01-17T19:52:00.000-08:00

Prince in Progress

2012-01-16T12:22:00.000-08:00

Thursday I gave a sneak-peek at one of my WIP Daemon Princes. Here is another one. This pic is from a test-fit with the wings. Still a lot of work to do on this guy.

More to come.
:)

1 Step Forward, 2 Steps Back

2012-01-12T15:20:00.000-08:00

So, I didn't get my herald sculpted and painted by Christmas as I'd hoped. He fell off the workbench, and snapped off the staff with the 3-eyed nurgling. The fall also damaged and loosened his "good" antler to the point where, it's a complete re-do. I'll be honest; it was kind of a bummer. I knew I wouldn't be able to repair the damage and get him completed by the deadline. For now, the herald has been put on the back burner.

But I haven't been totally idle since then; I've put in some conversion time on my 2 Daemon Princes. Here's a peek at one of them.

Herald of Nurgle (part 3)

2011-12-03T16:25:00.000-08:00

I've added the tongue (two Bloodletter tongues glued together w/ some GS to fill out the back) and a little more to the face. Sloooooowly getting there.

Man, I hope Nurgle Heralds get good rules in the next Daemon codex.

Oh! Also, a big thank you to the guys at Santa Cruz Warhammer for the Honor Role mention :)

Herald of Nurgle (part 2)

2011-12-01T17:52:00.000-08:00

More baby steps with GS. Filled out the jowls and rolls on his neck, starting to bulk out the nurgling on his hip (might have to name these guys).

Herald of Nurgle

2011-11-28T14:24:00.001-08:00

Mabs canceled the Plague Daemon Conversion Contest, over on Papa Nurgle, but it was too late; minds had already conjured images of daemons to be.
This is a project blog of the Daemonic Herald that I was working on for the contest that never was. I'm still trying to get him done by the December 31st deadline.

Here we go!

The base for this conversion is a Vampire Counts Dire Wolf head stuck onto a BloodLetter body. The Nurgling on his hip is based on the head of a Finecast Daemon Prince of Nurgle.

The other Nurgling (on the staff) is based off a Posesed Chaos Space Marine head. The staff is from the Vampire Counts Zombie kit.

Lest We Forget

2011-11-11T09:33:00.000-08:00

LXXXI: the Iron Halo STC Battle Bunker

2011-10-14T12:43:00.000-07:00

This is an early WIP shot of a terrain project I've been working on. Basic construction+surfacing is done, and now we're at the fun "gluing on the details" stage. The door pictured here is just a place holder for now (I'm actually using that door for a more 'damaged' terrain piece).

I'm calling it the Iron Halo STC Battle Bunker, and I'm putting my own twist on it, but in the spirit of full disclosure the original idea came from toposolitario.

A full tutorial for this guy with photos and printable templates is in the works too, I just need to get some Legos first, to get some better control over my press-molding. More to come.

LXXX: Alternate Plague Bearer Design Roughs

2011-09-17T12:18:00.000-07:00

Well the post title kinda says it all: these are some rough sketches I did for alternate Plague Bearer designs we're kicking around over at PapaNurgle.enjoy!

LXXIX: 1500 points of Rainbows

2011-09-16T14:01:00.000-07:00

Librarian: jump pack(125 pts.)
Honour Guard: Champion, Noviate, 2x meltaguns, 5x jump packs(205 pts.)

ELITE

Furioso Librarian: magna grapple, drop pod(225 pts.)
(2x) Sanguinary Priest: jump pack(150 pts.)
Techmarine: jump pack (50 pts.)

FAST ATTACK

(3x) Land Speeder: multimelta(180 pts.)

TROOPS

(2x) Assault Marines: 1x power fist, 2x meltaguns, 10x jumpacks(470 pts.)
5 strong Sniper Scout Squad: 5x cammo cloaks(90 pts.)

1495 pts.

First crack at writing a list w/ the Blood Angels codex. I guess I'll probably just use those last 5 points on a melta bomb or a storm shield somewhere....

LXXVIII: Incoming Rainbows

2011-09-13T14:06:00.000-07:00

Well, this one little 'Warrior looked so lonely, I figured it was time to give him some friends. More to come!

LXXVII: First Rainbow

2011-09-12T16:01:00.000-07:00

Ug, the light in here is utter shit.I'll get better pictures soon (promise).He's actually not a bad looking mini in real life.A lot of 1st times with this guy;

1st time using non-GW paints.
1st time applying waterslide transfers.
1st time printing waterslide transfers. (thank you BoLS).
1st time using Dullcoat.
1st time using weathering powders.

I think he came out looking pretty good, all things considered.

LXXVI: Colours of the Rainbow

2011-09-03T20:59:00.000-07:00

I've got a test figure 90% painted in the "standard" Chapter colours, and I've just started another one to try out this cammo scheme. Pictures soon.

LXXV: Rainbow Warriors

2011-08-22T14:13:00.000-07:00

I'll be using the Blood Angels codex for these guys I think, as I want a distinctly different play-style than my Plague Marines.

I'll mostly be concerning myself with the 2nd Battle Company: "The Brothers Vermilion", under Brother Captain Kahanamoku.

First up is test marine, then the rest of a Tactical Squad (all beakies), then maybe a Land Speeder. We'll see how it goes.

LXXIV: Coming Soon

2011-08-19T10:09:00.001-07:00

Kill Team: Game Review.

2011-08-18T16:33:00.000-07:00

I really like this game.
You'll read the same complaints in every review: you can't skip any load-screens/ cinematics, it's hard on single player, and you can't play on-line... but you can (and do) forgive these things. It may not blow your mind, but you'll be too busy blasting everything that moves to care.

If you love 40K (and if you're reading this blog, you probably do) it's a great way to get a fix when you don't feel like painting. It made me want to make Space Ork terrain! Kill Team is waaay more cinematic than that garbage UltraMarines movie, and at $10 it's half the price of one of those lousy Garro audio books.

~Mini-Rant about Garro audio books~

I had just started reading the Horus Heresy novels, I had just finished 'Eisenstein and I was super curious about the origins of the Gray Knights, so I borrowed a friend's copy of the audio-books. The narration isn't bad, and the sound FX are fine... but they're soooo badly written! James Swallow completely mishandles characters you've been getting to know over the course of the HH novels. At the end, it just feels like nothing happened, both audio-books are utterly forgettable. I can't believe GW has the balls to ask for $20 each for these things! Ridiculous.

~end of rant~

Getting back to Kill Team, it's a great introduction to 40K for friends and wives. It's a fun, pick-up & play game, best enjoyed in 2-player mode.
Recommended.

NEWSBREAK!!!

2011-07-18T08:25:00.000-07:00

The Heroes of Armageddon are finished!

go to the Heroes of Armageddon website right now!!!
the time has come to show you all the amazing + awesome armies!!!

LXXIII: Baby Steps

2011-07-14T16:26:00.000-07:00

Recently, I signed-up for the The Independent Characters forums. I joined up because I was drawn to The ICs Hobby Progress Challenge to kinda force me to log my hobby progress, and also to make a plan + stick to it.

...so this is my before picture, and commitment.

Rhino:

Painted, salt weathering, weathering powders
2nd Rhino assembled

Chosen:

Primer + 1st colour on all 7

....by the end of the month.

...a little change of pace

2011-06-18T20:37:00.000-07:00

A change of pace from my Lords of Decay, but a fun project for a good cause.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

2011-04-19T10:35:00.000-07:00

The Good: Secret Weapon Miniatures!
I placed my order on a weekend, and didn't expect to hear from them until Monday, but I got an instant response. I even added to my order after the first one was completed, and THAT was no problem. Top notch friendly service, and a great product delivered in a timely fashion. You really can't ask for anything more than that.

The Bad: Skullcrafts
Complete opposite experience. Whatever you do, do NOT order from this guy. I still haven't gotten my order or heard from him. For over 2 months now, nobody has been getting their orders from him, but that's not the worst part of it: he doesn't EVER respond to email/or communicate with the customer. No order confirmation emails, no response to any email inquires, nothing. The forum on his site is filling-up with people (who've been waiting over 40 days) asking for their money back.

The Ugly: That would be me.
I've been on both sides of the customer service counter in my day, so I know when I'm not even getting the bare minimum of common courtesy. I'm patient, but if you can't treat me like a human being, and you still want to take my money, I get ugly. I'm not proud of that, but it's how I react.

I'm quite happy to give praise, and really hesitant to slander.... but Skullcrafts has earned my ire. I'm sorry for the negativity, but I hope this saves somebody from the frustration of trying to deal with that company.

A Time for Heroes

2011-04-06T01:20:00.000-07:00

Friends,

In the last 4 months our world has seen some extraordinary disasters, both natural and man made. The people in the Middle East and Africa have been battling their governments and each other for a different and hopefully better future. many, many people died and got hurt and this is still going on today: in Libya, in Ivory Coast, in Syria and in many other places as well.

And then the tsunami that hit Japan...seeing the footage of that wave gave me the chills and I have not been able to revisit it, realizing how much carnage and hardship this wave caused...

Storm Wardens

We cannot change any of these things by ourselves. But we can help support organizations that go to Africa and Japan, people that risk their own lives to better the life of a stranger. One of these groups is Doctor without Borders. An amazing organization and I am asking you all to check out their news feed here.

DWB go to places where most organizations have left and try against odds to fulfill their oath: to help people in need, really really in need.

And they need money. And that's where we come in...last year you all raised over 16,000 dollars for this amazing charity with the Storm Wardens Project. Here's the link, the page is still up.

And yes, it was all YOUR success. We just opened up a PayPal account and built 2500 points of models. But you all showed that our community can come together and do something amazing.

2011

Well, this year the world seems way worse off and we have decided to do another Charity Project:

Heroes of Armageddon

John and I thought it better to raise the stakes and create a much larger project: we're giving away FOUR 3000 point armies. We hope that you will all pitch in and let your heart speak. This is the change we all can make, instead of ignoring the news.

How does it work?

Every dollar that you support the project with gives you a chance to be one of the lucky four at the end of this drive. So 10 dollars of donations buys you 10 chances. 100 dollars means....right, you got it.

At the end of the drive, in July, we will run our trusty number generator and pick our four new friends.

Then, the armies will travel to Games Day in Chicago, where they will be displayed. After that the winners can take their army home or we send it off.

In short: the more you donate, the better your chances. More importantly, the more you donate, the more you help all of us to make the world a better place.

Heroes of Armageddon

Our Games Day Diorama will depict the 3rd battle of Armageddon with 4 armies: Steel Legion, Blood Angels, Ork Hordes and Speed Freaks.

We have expanded the all star build team from last year with a handful of Golden Demon winners and we also hope to go bigger and better by reaching out to more of you and the industry and collecting even more than we did last year for Doctors Without Borders.

Here are the team leaders for the 4 army projects

Dave Taylor: Steel Legion

Jawaballs: Blood Angels

Mad Boy Genius (Spikey Bits): Ork Hordes

Goatboy (BOLS): Speed Freaks

These four wonderful modelers were so kind to say yes to us and have committed to finishing up these armies in an amazing way: creative, fresh and with a great paintjob. Through these guys, we have been able to lock down 3 Golden Demon winners to paint the centerpieces of the armies and have created a total build team of close to 20 to 25 people, all of which are wonderful artists and gracious with time and effort for this cause. More on all of the participants next week.

Our main site for the finished units and more info is Heroes of Armageddon

There is more....

Just like last year, as our way of saying thanks for your help, we will enter you in a weekly prize drawing once for every dollar you pitch in so not only will you be helping a good cause, but you might just win something amazing for your trouble. Everyone who has supported the project up to that point will be eligible to win. The prizes will be really, really nice.

What can you do?

Put the "H.O.A." button on your page. You can help spread the word and link to the heroes site and the site of the bloggers involved. Why not create a special blogroll for this? That would help immensely.

You can hold a local event to raise money or just post some fliers at your favorite gaming spots.

You can send in prize or model donations and be part of the many sponsors that help us out.

You can talk to family and friends and tell them about the help that they can give

AND

you can send us models that we then distribute to the teams that need them. A list will go up soon with requests.

Last Years winner

Last year's Army winner Jacob, watch a video of him at Games Day receiving the Storm Wardens Army Grand Prize.

Are you ready to make a difference?

Are you ready for 4 awesome armies?

Are you ready for Armageddon?

John & Mike

Coming SOON!

2011-04-04T11:06:00.000-07:00

LXXII: AJ's Hatch Tutorial

2011-03-25T16:06:00.000-07:00

The other day I was asking AJ how he makes those great levers and handles on his scratch-built hatches: today he put up a tutorial on just how to do that. Check out his blog, it's full of inspiring stuff.

LXXI: Jingle-Bones!

2011-02-22T12:17:00.000-08:00

Secret Weapon RULES! I can't wait for these to be available.

LXX: My First Rhino

2011-02-21T10:27:00.001-08:00

Painting still in progress... then I'll be trying-out some weathering powders to make it look properly rusted, and then some mud on/around the tracks. I'm toying with the idea of doing some OSL around the headlights... but I've got a bunch of new techniques to try on this project already... we'll see.

(sorry about the crappy picture)

LXIX: a Dark Eldar gift to Nurgle

2011-02-16T11:22:00.000-08:00

Khymera 2

Khymera 1

If, like me, you've been using Dire Wolves as bitz for Nurgley conversions (or as stand-in for ugly metal models), you'll be happy to see the next wave of Dark Eldar pre-orders. The Khymeras will look lovely as Beasts of Nurgle or Chaos Spawn with just a little GS rotting skin/chaotic tentacles added.

Dire Wolves

LXVIII: Converting Helmets

2011-02-12T15:51:00.000-08:00

First crack at converting an "Iron Armour" helmet with green stuff. I'd like to get some of those Forgeworld pre-heresy and Death Guard conversion kits some day... so a few of these home-brewed helmets scattered throughout my army will hopefully help them fit-in.

LXVII: Dressing-Up Plaguebearers

2011-02-12T12:31:00.000-08:00

This Plaguebearer from the Mordheim Carnival of Chaos really got me thinking the other day... about pants. Plaguebearers are commonly modeled "nude", and that's fine, it makes sense that their clothing might've rotted away... but if everybody else in the warp can figure-out how to wear armour and fetish gear, why couldn't our Plaguebearers pick up some discarded, disease-ridden plague-rags now and then? I think a few scraps of clothing here and there will really add some character and sense of history/age to my lesser daemons (and hopefully will help distinguish them from their humble Bloodletter roots).

*uncredited image from an Italian site, please leave a comment if you know who the painter is

LXVI: Converting Plaguebearers

2011-02-10T00:07:00.000-08:00

In Astro Mag #8 they have a nice lil' mini-tutorial on converting your own Plaguebearers from the Bloodletters box. I'm actually right in the middle of trying this process for myself. Most Nurgle players I've spoken to usually go this route rather than resort to the GW metal models.

LXV: Finaly, some proper Plaguebearers

2011-02-08T13:15:00.000-08:00

Last year all the Chaos Powers got brand new plastic kits, except for our beloved grampa Nurgle (despite the fact that nobody needs updated sculpts more). The the current GW Plaguebearers are pretty wretched, but given what ForgeWorld has done for 40K Nurgle armies, I still had hope maybe we wouldn't be entirely forgotten. Sure enough, at Games Day UK WarhammerForge was announced and our lesser daemons finally got some relief in resin.... and now at last, they're available.

Did you know the french word for Plaguebearer is Porte-Peste? So cute.

Unfortunately these new Plaguebearers are only available in rider positions. Bummer! In the end, it looks like I'll be just using pictures of them as inspiration for now, while I add a ton of GS to some Bloodletter minis (and maybe I'll fill-out some of the ranks with a few of these Heresy Miniatures Blight Demons).

LXIV: Press Molding

2011-02-07T13:13:00.000-08:00

I love the idea of home resin casting, but I'm a little intimidated by the process (and the start-up cost). If this video is accurate, Instant Mold might just be the perfect alternative product to help me add a little more bang for my buck. $13 + shipping seems pretty reasonable for a re-usable product too!

Has anybody tried/used this stuff?

Ultramarines: Movie Review.

2010-12-29T23:17:00.000-08:00

Well, I've posted enough clips in anticipation of this film, I guess I ought to do a review of the final product too.

First a little disclaimer: I'm a professional. I work in animation, so I am both sympathetic to the (financial) obstacles this production faced, and unsympathetic to the poor decision-making.

REVIEW: The movie is painfully dull.

VOICES: I prefer professional voice actors in animation over live-action screen actors coming in to do a voice gig, but I admit that I was excited by the casting of John Hurt & Terence Stamp. Unfortunately, their performances were bland and 1-note. Sadly, their bland performances matched the rest of the film.

MUSIC/SCORE: Music can be such a powerful tool to enhance events on the screen, create tension or build momentum... but not here. This film was mostly without a score, and when it does pop-up, it's generic and forgettable.

WRITING: I've read other reviews of the film, and fans all expected Dan Abnett to write something sooo amazing that it wouldn't matter what the film looked like; it doesn't work that way. Mr. Abnett wrote a simple, but clever screenplay with a small number of characters and locations, he did his job. My only criticism of the writing was the lame attempts at humour, which just fall flat. In all honesty, these moments felt tacked-on, and were probably re-writes added last-minute at the urging of producers, and probably not Mr. Abnett's fault.

DIRECTING: The reason the film is so incredibly dull is director Martyn Pick. It feels like half this movie is just padding; long walking sequences and lots of smoke. The director's job is to get the best film out of the components he has to work with... clearly Martyn Pick failed to do this.

The reason I was willing to look past the low-budgetness of this movie, was because I was looking forward to seeing the 40K universe come alive! At no point did this film come close to making me suspend my disbelief, and I wanted to! Martyn Pick failed to evoke any of the feelings the GW artwork stirs in fans. Where were the legions of marines, shoulder to shoulder, holding the line, last defense against the Warp and Xenos encroaching from all sides?

This movie should have felt dense with detail and character, dripping with ambiance... instead it felt like watching a couple of guys playing a game of half-court basketball in a big empty gym.

Ultra Marines clip: Chaplain Carnak

2010-12-04T00:33:00.000-08:00

Admittedly, the animation looks kinda dodgy, but the voices are great. I'm looking forward to seeing a living, moving 40K film, should be fun.

Rememberance Day

2010-11-10T23:33:00.000-08:00

On 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month... we remember.

"In Flanders Fields"
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

R.I.P.

LXIII: My 1st Nurgling (completed)

2010-11-05T17:35:00.000-07:00

"Nurglings are tiny, mischievous daemons, resembling a chubby miniaturized version of a Great Unclean One. They normally appear in large numbers."

7.) I added the horn, filled-out the back side a little more and (not pictured) sculpted a little bone for him to hold

8.) I neglected to take a picture, but there was a step before this where I added a nub of an arm, prior to adding the hand/ bone.

9.) Bulked-up his left shoulder and elbow, also his right haunch.

And now he's pretty much done. There are 4 nurglings to a 40mm base... I may push myself and try and get 3 more done this month.

(sorry for the bad pictures, the lighting here is terrible)

LXII: My 1st Nurgling (continued)

2010-11-03T14:32:00.000-07:00

4.) Here you can see I cut out the sides of his mouth to make him more smiley (why so serious?)

5.) Starting to plump-up his cheeks/ chins

6.) You can't see from this angle, but I've given him a little bum, and I've continued plumping him up

I thought this would go faster, but it's actually pretty tricky sculpting at this size!
Legs are coming up next. Arms are going to be a challenge.

LXI: November Nurgling Challenge begins!

2010-11-01T14:18:00.000-07:00

My 1st Nurgling!

1.) Here I go. I'm not a green stuff master, so I'm taking it easy my first time out. I'm using scrap GW plastic bitz from my bitz box to form a base.
(bitz used: 1 SM shoulder, 1 bloodletter face--horns removed)

2.) Glue them together

3.) Bulk-up with a little green stuff. This is just to get it to sit-up properly, and to start to get our shape.
(no details yet)

that's it for part 1! Up next: time to add some details and finish him off!

LX: November Nurgling Challenge

2010-10-28T12:45:00.000-07:00

I'm starting a November Nurgling Sculpting Challenge over at PapaNurgle

>>So, here's the idea: Everybody sculpts a little nurgling from green stuff, AND makes a mini-tutorial for how they did it. Simple! Thus we create this big pool of sculpting tips/knowledge for all of us to draw upon, and a place to give feedback/encouragement to each other, and infect each other with new ideas and techniques.

>>This is where the "challenge" phase begins; we each then sculpt a second nurgling before the end of the month, hopefully better than the 1st "testling".

The goal is to increase the number of nurglings out there (for Papa), and more importantly, improve our confidence/ skills with GS in the process.

Doesn't that sound fun? You can play along, if you like :)

Crappy Mini, or Not?

2010-10-26T10:01:00.001-07:00

Have you seen this website? Crappy Mini, or Not takes old, neglected minis, with horrendous paint-jobs, strips them & gives them a new lease on life. I love this idea of restoring old minis with new, awesome paint-jobs! Recycling, baby!
Check-out more great examples here

LIX: Building RT Treads

2010-10-12T13:27:00.001-07:00

I've decided to build my own Land Raider treads from scratch, rather than order the spiffy ForgeWorld Chaos Land Raider tracks. I think I'm going to go with RT style tracks, but I'm stuck on a couple measurements; I'm hoping my fellow bloggers out there can maybe help me out. If you've ever made some of these style tracks, or even if you just know the measurements, any and all tips/ advice would be appreciated.

*** EDIT ***

(thanks Mabs!)

NEW Ultramarines Trailer

2010-10-09T09:04:00.000-07:00

This trailer is everywhere on-line, but I first saw it this morning @ the Buddy Times

LVIII: Giant Plaguespawn of Nurgle

2010-10-06T10:10:00.000-07:00

"Many horrors too foul to name spill from the Daemon worlds of the Eye of Terror. They are the abominations of Chaos, creatures taken by the dark gods and corrupted for the god's entertainment and possessed by the spirits of ravenous daemons."

Progress Report:
You might remember, way back at the end of March/ beginning of April I picked-up a toy to proxy as a ForgeWorld GIANT SPINED CHAOS BEAST (as featured in Imperial Armour 7: the Siege of Vraks part 3) for apocalypse games. I started the project, and then almost immediately got distracted and shelved him.

The other day I saw some blurry pics from Games Day UK 2010, featuring Plague Toads, and I got all fired-up for Nurgle again. Out came the GS, and the 'Beast is back on the workbench. In the book (IA 7), they have 2 "named" monstrous creatures; Gorefeaster (Khorne), and Jibberjaw (Nurgle). Originally I was just planning to make a proxy for a generic Giant Spined Chaos Beast, and then give it the mark of Nurgle... but now that I'm more familiar with the text, I'm just going to proxy him as Jibberjaw (it's cheaper points-wise, and more "fluffy"). I'm thinking of naming my version "Slobberjaw".

Still lots to do, but this is a fun project.

LVII: Resin Prince

2010-09-29T13:43:00.000-07:00

Over on PapaNurgle they were talking about how trench style bases are a natural fit for Death Guard, and I gotta agree. I'm going for the Siege of Vraks theme, so I had to recommended Secret Weapon's Trench Works resin bases.

Snapping this WIP shot of my DP reminded me of how long it has been since I touched my plague marines. I need to get to work on that.

Shame on Ron

2010-08-11T17:05:00.000-07:00

"If this scene sucks; it's because YOU suck"

This is a poster by Xamie Hernandez, and it was pertaining to the music scene in SoCal, but the sentiment is just as true for your local gaming scene. Ron posted this post about how he's not going to get into Fantasy because nobody in his area paints their armies.

If Ron read the fluff for the armies, and looked at the models & said to himself "that's not for me", well then fine; I have no problem with that. To not start an army that you want to build however, and then blame it on the local scene .... is weak. I'm not trying to pick on Ron here (just the opposite), the man is in a very visible position in this hobby, and he has done a lot to stimulate creativity in this scene through fantastic painting and modeling tutorials and by providing access to a vast network of blogs for literally hundreds of hobbyists; so this post just seemed unnecessarily negative and uncharacteristically disparaging. Ron says he is jealous of the war-gaming scene here in Vancouver, but I say Ron can make his own scene as good as he wants for himself.

The job isn't painting models; it's getting excited about painting your models.

Ron frequently posts about his "Old-Timers league" and how they just mostly get together and chat about the hobby more than play games. I suggest he maybe throw the idea of an Warband Expansion rules (as suggested by John of Santa Cruz Warhammer in the comments) out there to those guys (to start), maybe get the local shop involved. A similar thought is maybe a "Tale of 4 Gamers" type project.

How we do it here is: set the bar at a 3 colour, table-top quality minimum pretty much across the board. Inevitably, people start to see more fully painted/detailed armies & the standard naturally raises itself.

All I'm saying is, everybody has the power to improve their gaming scene, and with all the thousands of eyeballs out there reading his blog, Ron has more influence on that than maybe he realizes. He says "I would love to see a fully painted Fantasy army outside of pictures on the internet or at Games Day", but I would argue the The Storm Wardens project should have taught us all that pictures on the internet CAN lead to painted armies in real life.

I'm not trying to bully anybody into starting a new army, my intention is to hopefully just empower people who might be on the fence. You aren't alone, there IS hope.

*cross-posted to Son of Slann

LVI: Someday my Prince will come (continued)

2010-07-29T09:12:00.000-07:00

A few of you may remember this post from back in Febuary... progress has been glacial (at best). Now that his wings are finally assembled, my Prince is nearly ready to lead my army to the tabletop.

I apologize for the lack of posts; I've been distracted by Fantasy lately. I'm, at long last, on the cusp of finishing my 1500 point 40K army... and what do I do? I start a Lizardmen army. I'm sure some of you can relate. I've never played Warhammer Fantasy before, but I'm pretty excited about 8th edition... I've even started a new blog about it: Son of Slann (stop on by & say hello).

LV: Muddy Basses

2010-07-03T14:49:00.000-07:00

I just got my Instant Scenery Kit: Mud & Water from Secret Weapon in the mail, and the picture above is my first attempt (after drying overnight). I have to say... it looks better on camera than in real life right now. I will eventually base my whole army with this stuff (I'm going for a Siege of Vraks theme) but I'm gonna hafta do a couple more tests to get the hang of mixing all the ingredients (to get the results/ colours I want). It's probably easier if you mix more material at once, but I was just doing a small test batch and getting the texture to be "like cake frosting" was a bit of a struggle the 1st time out.

They have a great two part tutorial up on their blog. I only did the 1st part on this base.

It'll get easier with practice, I'm sure; It's a great kit. Two quick (obvious) things I would advise though: use a stick to mix, and whatever brush you use to apply this stuff... will not survive, so use a brush you don't mind parting with.

LIV: Champion Bolter

2010-06-21T14:03:00.000-07:00

I took some pictures of this bolter conversion & put together super-quick & easy mini tutorial.

Step 1.) Gather the bits

Step 2.) Chop the bits

Step 3.) Clean the bits

Step 4.) Glue the bits

And now we have ourselves a bolter fit for a champion of chaos! Here is the finished arm in it's new home, getting ready to lead a squad of Chosen into battle.

Green vs Plastic

2010-06-16T16:48:00.001-07:00

As I mentioned in a couple of earlier posts, I had GREAT success with Simple Green to strip/clean metal models. Emboldened by this easy victory, I decided to put it to the test on plastic.

I had heard some negative reviews on-line, but I wasn't too keen on the harsh chemical alternatives. My conclusion is that Simple Green works just fine on plastics, IF YOU HAVE A GOOD STIFF BRUSH. I tried scrubbing with a ratty old toothbrush, and it didn't work very well. I switched to scrubbing with a new toothbrush & it made my life soooo much easier; but still I wanted for something with stiffer bristles. I've heard that some people use brushes with metal bristles, but having never tried them myself, I'm a little nervous they may be too harsh and damage my minis. Has anybody tried this with a metal brush? Does anybody know of some sort of middle-ground? What kinda brush would Goldilocks use?

The results you see above are going to work well enough for Nurgle, but I have a friend with some Tau he'd like to repaint, so I still want to improve my plastic mini stripping technique.

Spearhead: Super Heavy

2010-06-12T10:12:00.000-07:00

I like the idea of bringing Apoc sized Super Heavies into the regular 40K game. With Nurgle (as far as I know) the options are: Plaguereaper, Contagion & the Plague Tower.

As much as I fancy making a big ol' tanky Plague Tower (and I will one day, I've done sketches)... I'm intrigued by the possibilities of scratch-building a proper 40K looking Contagion (maybe using the Skaven Screaming Bell/ Bretonnian Field Trebuchet kits as a guides for scale).

But... what are the rules for this thing?

LIII: Recommissioned Chaos Warrior

2010-06-08T17:11:00.000-07:00

Here's a WIP shot of one of my refurbished OOP metal chaos guys. I think he's going to look quite dashing in his new role as a flamer Plague Marine.

I wasn't looking for this figure specifically, he just came to me via a bits swap, but now that he's mine... he's gonna have to earn his keep! I like the idea of an army growing organically though, especially with Nurgle; the last thing I want is an standard-issue looking army...these are renegades!

Going Green: Results

2010-06-08T13:57:00.000-07:00

Simple Green worked great on these old metal models! I had read on-line that it had a really strong smell, but I didn't mind it, (just smelled like Jaggermeister to me). I prefer it by far to some other harsh chemical scent. I kept it on the balcony overnight, so smell wouldn't have been an issue regardless. Brought them in this morning & with just the slightest scrubbing from a ratty ol' toothbrush... the paint just peeled-off like fried chicken skin.

Later this morning I stumbled across this post over on Dark Future Games and in the comments section there's an interesting variety of opinions about weather or not this stuff works on plastic figures. I had a 2nd hand plastic biker laying around, so I'm soaking him in the same jar of Simple Green. I'll leave him in there for two days & see how it comes out.

Going Green

2010-06-07T15:40:00.000-07:00

I got some old chaos figures in a bits swap ages ago, figuring "I can always strip 'em later". Well now it's later & this will be my first time trying something like this, but everybody says Simple Green is the best stuff for the job.

I dropped the figures into an old jar, and poured in the Simple Green (undiluted). Now I wait patiently, with my old tooth brush while the 'green does it's magic. I'll check back in on them in the morning & I'll post some pictures after they've had a good scrub. Wish me luck!

LII: If I had a Rocket Launcher...

2010-06-07T12:14:00.000-07:00

I'm just 1 rocket launcher shy of completing my Havoc Squad (might have to try the Barter Bucket). I really like how these guys came out, for the most part. The Rocket Launcher guys looked a little crowded with chaos backpacks, so used loyalist equivalents & tarted them up a little with some chaos iconography. The rest of my army isn't really this flashy, but I figured since these guys aren't technically Plague Marines, fluff-wise it makes sense that they be slightly more flamboyant than the rest of my 'rotters.

ULTRAMARINES: The Movie

2010-05-31T10:17:00.000-07:00

The director is relative unknown Martyn Pick, this is his first feature length directorial effort.

The writer for Ultramarines has been announced as none other than Dan Abnett, the best-selling author who has written dozens of Warhammer 40,000 novels and graphic novels which have sold over a million copies worldwide. He was an obvious choice due to his background with Games Workshop, his extensive knowledge of Warhammer 40K, and his writing ability.

New teaser is up: ULTRAMARINES The Movie.com
I can't wait for this to come out!

Spearhead!

2010-05-28T11:53:00.000-07:00

I got the new Spearhead issue of White Dwarf yesterday. First time I've bought this magazine since I was a little kid. These rules look fun! Anybody else pick this up? Got any favorite formations?

New Header

2010-05-22T14:03:00.001-07:00

Today we say "hello!" to a new, more Nurgley header, and "goodbye" to the old Enter the Dragon style one.

LI: Icon of Nurgle

2010-05-19T11:25:00.000-07:00

left arm is from the Bloodletters box
legs are from the Possessed CSM box
backpack is from the Berserkers box
everything else is from the Chaos Space Marines box

I modified the horn into an antler on the nurgle CSM head, this is something I'm doing across my whole army. Bull horns are too Khorne, multiple horns are Tzeentch, and those ribbed looking gazelle horns are Slaanesh; antlers are for Nurgle.

This is the first icon bearer in my army, he'll be attached to my new Havoc squad. I've got a champion in a WIP biker squad with another icon, but I think I'll represent it differently for him (something with less drag).

L: Cry Havoc

2010-05-12T20:19:00.000-07:00

I have been swayed by a discussion over on Papa Nurgle about Havocs ~vs~ Preds or Vindies. I got excited & put this guy together... I'm thinking maybe a squad of 7, maybe 3 or 4 launchers.

Also, this blog turns 1 year old this month, marking the anniversary of me getting into this plastic crack hobby. I think I've made some progress, but I need something to show for it, not just WIP pics. So by the end of the month I'll have my first 7 man Plague Marine squad PAINTED, I swear it.

Pay It Forward Winner Anounced!

2010-05-01T18:07:00.000-07:00

Aaaaaaaannnnddd the winner is: Nobody.
Nobody entered. I couldn't GIVE figures away. Is it my haircut? I'm probably just doing it wrong, I'll have a better contest next time.

Pay it Forward Blog Giveaway

2010-04-25T07:29:00.000-07:00

Contest opens today, Closes May 1st.

PRIZE: Choice of 2

RED PRIZE
1 pot (un-used/new) of Red Gore Citadel Colour paint, bits for 5 Khorne Berzerkers (on sprue) + Khorne Icon.

or

GREEN PRIZE
1 pot (un-used/new) of Dark Angels Green Citadel Colour paint, bits for 5 Dark Angels Veterans (on sprue) + DA Icon.

What you have to do to win:

1. Post a comment with the name of your blog
2. Have a "pay it forward" giveaway of your own.
3. Follow my Blog
4. Leave a contact email, with your prize choice so I can alert the winner.

Simple as that.

Good luck!!

XLIX: Painting at Last

2010-04-24T10:37:00.000-07:00

Here's a WIP pic of my first Lords of Decay Plague Marine Squad. 7 PMs, 2 Plasma guns + a Rhino Tank = 226 points.

I still need to add a couple backpacks, and take care of a couple mold lines (that I just noticed); but they're getting there. C+C welcome.

XLVIII: How to Nurglise your Dragon

2010-04-08T16:42:00.000-07:00

In my last post, Part 47: GIANT SPINED CHAOS BEAST, I stated my intentions. Today I'm sharing a little progress. I'm a total newb when it comes to GS, so I'm taking my time with this. I just do a little bit of work on him here and there, just before bed. It's a really fun project for me, though.

I haven't actually laid eyes on the ForgeWorld version of this creature, but if anyone reading has seen it can you tell me if I'm in the right ballpark for scale? Thanks!

XVII: GIANT SPINED CHAOS BEAST

2010-03-26T18:33:00.000-07:00

The Purchase:

The Inspiration:

This is my latest kit-bash. 5 bucks vs. $74 (+shipping & handling). I'll get him all Nurgled-up & painted eventually, should be fun. I actually went to 2 shops looking for a Chaos Defiler today, but both places were sold out.

XLVI: Free Basing

2010-03-20T10:35:00.000-07:00

I've fallen victim to having too many projects on the go at once. In an effort to tie up some loose ends (and to get me painting) I'm going back to bases.

On the Left, we have my first technique, using the Gale Force 9 materials. this is how it was painted:
1. Primed Black
2. Scorched Brown (2 coats)
3. Heavy dry-brush of 50/50 Snakebite Leather/ Graveyard Earth
4. Light Dry-brush of Graveyard Earth
5. Devlin Mud wash

the rock was painted with Adeptus Battlegrey, drybrushed with Fortress Grey, and then a Gryphone Sepia wash.

Dead grass was added last using a small blob of white glue.

On the Right I used the Winter Basing Kit very generously donated by Santa Cruz Warhammer using their Broken Ground technique.

It think the SC Warhammer technique was far superior, for sure, but I'm going to keep playing with these materials & see what else I can come up with that'll be more in-line with the "Siege of Vraks" theme I want to do. Any and all comments & critiques welcome.

A special thank you, again to the guys at SC Warhammer; you guys Rule!

XLV: Someday my Prince will come

2010-02-08T17:43:00.000-08:00

This is my new (tacked-together) UltraForge model which'll soon count as my army's HQ choice (Daemon Prince with wings). A little nervous, as this will be my first time working with resin, and the wings I got for him are on the big side (but made of light plastic). I'm excited to finally own this part of my list, but conversions on him will have to wait until I get a few other half-finished projects out of the way.

2 other bits of hobby related news; I've added a Barter Bucket link to this blog (over there, on the left), and I got some great new Basing Materials from Santa Cruz Warhammer the other day (pictures & review to follow soon).

XLIV: Project Chaos Dreadclaw

2010-01-16T10:46:00.000-08:00

"Drop Pod like transports used by the Space Marine Legions of old, and still used by the Traitor Marine Legions. Its design has been heavily corrupted from thousands of years exposed to Chaos and they are now used for a variety of roles from boarding ships, to planetary assault."

Here's a WIP shot, with a couple of my Legion of (the Lost and) the Damned figures for scale. Still waiting on bits in the mail, but I did find a hobby shop that sells plastic card/ tubing/ stripping... so I can do some detailing on this bad-boy in the meantime. This'll be my first scratch-build, and by far my largest project to date wish me luck!

XLIII: Blight Grenadier

2010-01-06T11:12:00.001-08:00

Remember those legs I repositioned at the end of November? They were in kinda a weird pose, and it took me a second to think of something that would work for the torso... but finally he is mostly done (just a little more battle damage & some more sand on the base). Presenting my first Blight Grenadier!

I learned alot putting this guy together, and I also added another tool to my belt: sandpaper!

XLII: Scuz Bucket (complete)

2009-12-31T14:44:00.000-08:00

I was looking for a toy I could maybe cheaply convert into a Hell Blade Chaos Fighter or something, when I came apon this little guy; I abandoned the Hell Blade idea on the spot. Some GS work, and a few strategically glued bits later, and bam; I've got myself a Daemon Engine familiar/mascot for my army.

The mottled look I painted on him was to not only give him the appearance of having been wallowing in filth for hundreds of years, but also to hide my amateur-hour GS work.

I'm still not a 100% sure that's exactly how I want to paint the mud on my basses though, so any & all C&C are welcome.

XLI: Scuz Bucket

2009-12-27T17:38:00.000-08:00

Here's a WIP peek at a little something I'm working on. I'm just waiting for the GS to cure before I prime him.

Scuz Bucket here is going to count as a Sorcerer's Familiar. I wanted a Daemon Engine in the style of the Forgeworld Blight Drones that would visually match the playful puppy personality of a Beast of Nurgle. What I ended up with looks kinda like Nurgle turned R2-D2 into a dog (with antlers), so I'm pretty happy with it.

I'll post better pics when I get some paint on him in the next day or so.

XL: Progress Report

2009-12-04T15:13:00.000-08:00

The Champions for my 2 BBQ Plague Marine squads are almost complete. The one on the right is mostly done, and nearly ready for paint (just a little more GS work to smooth out on the back of the cloak). The other champ, the one on the left, still needs a head & backpack (shoulderpads have been added since this pic was taken). The green on his base is Thraka Green; I read that in "the old days" people would put washes of Inks on their bases to keep sand particles in place, so I tried it... but I don't think it did anything. My first try at sculpting his head (with antlers) was a bit of a disaster, so for my second attempt I'm going a different route... and this chaos marine from the $12 3-pack box is going to be my guinea pig.

kinda just looks like a big green dong on the side of his head at the moment, but it's just a WIP

Oh, and speaking of my BBQ squads, here's the 1st of the 4 Flamer Plague Marines who will be attached to those squads.

So to sum up: 1 BBQ squad assembled (and mostly primed), 1 Plasma squad fully assembled and a second BBQ squad half assembled. Mr. antlers there (with the green dong) is going to be the first marine in my 2nd Plasma squad. 2.5 of the 4 Plague Marine squads in the list. It's about time to do some painting on tester figures, I reckon.

XXXIX: Break a Leg

2009-11-23T15:59:00.000-08:00

I tried a couple new techniques; Repositioning a leg, and basing with cork. 'Still a WIP, but I'm having fun with it. I have 2 squads now assembled & based, and now I'm just waiting on a couple heads to arrive in the mail & I can get started painting these guys hopefully in the next week or so.

Crimson Fists!

2009-11-21T10:11:00.000-08:00

To me, NOTHING says 40K like some beaky-helmed Crimson Fists shooting-up some Space Orks.

Whenever GW updates with a new box or codex (eg; Skaven, Space Wolves), all the blogs go crazy & re-post images from the GW site, and I always thought: "What's the point? I would never do that". But today, the Crimson Fists got some love in the form of some conversion packs, and I find myself posting about it.... 'cause before I turned to Nurgle, I very nearly followed the way of the 'Fist.

I'm a devout follower of the PlagueFather these days, and I won't be puting together a Crimson Fist army any time soon........ but a cool diorama might be fun (we'll see)

Bitz Trade

2009-11-20T23:28:00.000-08:00

I went to my first ever Bitz Trading Day at the Burnaby, B.C. Games Workshop today; it was very positive experience. I only brought some Dark Angel bits with me, but I ended-up swapping 2 melta guns for 18 old-style chaos backpacks, so it was a good day.

After getting a close look at them, I don't think I want those black reach Deffkoptas anymore... I had planned to use them in a conversion project, but in the end I think I'd prefer to scratch build everything.

I am still on the look-out for a vindicator dozer blade though, so if anybody out there has an extra one; those DA bits are still up for grabs.

XXXVIII: Scatch-Built Blight Drones (continued)

2009-11-18T13:23:00.000-08:00

picture of Eric's WIP Blight Drone

There are at least 5 of us making Blight Drones now at Papa Nurgle. Guys, it's getting easier all the time with this dimension guide for scale & this step-by-step tutorial by Animeric... there's really no reason for you to not try this at home.

XXXVII: Scratch-Built Blight Drones

2009-11-16T17:45:00.000-08:00

"Where ever they were encountered, the air grew thick with poisonous fumes and the soil of Vraks rotted beneath them as their corpulent flesh wept continually with dripping icor "

The new Siege of Vraks book 3 is great, well worth owning (especially for Nurgle players).

Everybody loves the Blight Drones, but the models are Forgeworld-expensive. So who's making their own from scratch? I know some of us have started to post some WIP pics over at Papa Nurgle. In the interest of spreading this rotting foulness as far and wide as possible (for the PlagueFather!), I'll be posting about my progress here too. Daemon engines are notorious for being "staggering in their diversity, and blasphemous in their malignant design" but if you wanted to play along & make your own, and say you wanted to try & stay roughly the same dimensions as the Forgeworld counterpart, this may come in handy. I wonder how many of these we can all make before the end of the year?

Here's my 'drone at the "space shrimp" stage, next to the screw-cap (from an old bottle of speedball ink) that I'm thinking of using as a rotor housing.

Barter Bucket!

2009-11-14T10:48:00.000-08:00

I've got some Dark Angel bits up for trade on today's Barter Bucket, here's a slightly larger version of the picture they have up there.

and here's my NEEDS List:

+ Black Reach Deffkoptas (x3)
+ Vindicator dozer blade (x1)
+ Berserker chaos marine backpacks, old style (any)
+ plastic Cadian lower leg pairs (x2)
+ plastic Cadian helmets (any)

~thanks to Mik & Ron~

XXXVI: Lords of Decay

2009-11-13T14:55:00.000-08:00

LORDS of DECAY
"Large Deathguard sub-faction. Have formerly been led by the Primarch Mortarion. Multiple encounters with the warband over the past millennium, notably at the Siege of Vraks. Linked to the Space Hulk Monolith of Woe, they are currently being pursued by Imperial forces in the Mentieth Sector."

When I first saw the crest in the Chaos codex, I just wrote it off as "generic Nurgle", and I kinda felt free to make-up my own variation. Now that I've seen the same crest echoed in the Siege of Vraks 3... I guess it's cannon, so I'm going to go back and re-paint both those banners on my objective markers to make 'em more in line with the fluff. At least I made this decision before I painted my champions. No big deal. Man, that 3rd 'Vraks book is great, I want to get some Blight Drones sooooo bad!

I did finally get a sculpting tool, so hopefully that'll help me smooth out some of the "patchier" spots on my champions. I might even have another try at sculpting antlers tonight while I'm at it.

XXXV: Base fit for a Champion (continued)

2009-11-11T12:54:00.000-08:00

I still have some GS work to do on this guy, but mostly just on his cloak, on the back. I'm still, obviously, waiting on a head too (bits are in the mail). I really need to get myself a sculpting tool; by this stage the ol' toothpicks & pins method just aint getting good enough results. But, I guess he's mostly done now.

It took me a little while to decide what to do for a base. I kept staring at that marine helmet, & then down to the rock my champion was standing on... and it just didn't add up. I wanted to have him standing over a fallen foe, but after doing that Lazy Librarian objective marker, I knew a full body wouldn't fit on a 25mm base. I think the partial torso I came up with works well enough. I figure if I paint the ground to look muddy enough, then that much sinkage is plausible. I like it.

I followed Dverning's Rules for Basing. They can be found in the comments section of my last post, and also on his 40k Maunderings blog.

Rememberance Day

2009-11-11T10:45:00.000-08:00

On 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month... we remember.

"...it is observed on 11 November to recall the end of World War I on that date in 1918 (major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 with the German signing of the Armistice)."

R.I.P.

XXXIV: Base fit for a Champion

2009-11-04T15:50:00.000-08:00

Here's the start of my other champion. I stole the idea for this conversion from Santa Cruz Warhammer. I couldn't help myself, I just instantly loved the whole "Alas, poor Yorick" vibe. I'm going with rags rather than fur on the shoulders, and I'm filing off some of the more "Blood God" type details on the armor. A different head & arm should help to make mine different enough from SCW's to stand apart, but hopefully still be nurgly in his own right. I'll post more WIP shots as this guy progresses.

But here's the real point of this post: I really enjoyed making those objective markers, and I want to make something special (scenic?) for the bases of the champions in my army BUT I also want to eventually be able to use these guys in a game. What do you guys do for the bases of your champions? Is line-of-sight something I should be worrying about?

Any and all suggestions welcome (and thank you for reading).

XXXIII: Malevolent Mission Accomplished

2009-11-01T10:41:00.000-08:00

I did it! I got all 3 objective markers painted by Halloween night!!

I couldn't bring myself to ask the local game shop for charity, so I ended up buying 4 new pots of paint (bleached bone, camo green, graveyard earth, fortress grey) & a pot of devlan mud, so in the end I got 'em all done anyway! Even if for some reason posting pics on the 1st doesn't get me the full Malevolent Mission points over at Papa Nurgle this challenge was worth it, and I'm glad I pushed myself to meet the deadline.

I tried new techniques (sponges), and that was fun. These guys are the first things I've actually painted for my army so I had to kinda finalize my official paint scheme in the process too (for the Ghoulie in the hatch). Feels like I've made some real progress, even if I haven't really crossed anything off my checklist yet.

The Lazy Librarian

The Gun Coffin
I still don't have enough bits to stock the gun coffin full of guns, so I'll probably revisit this one at a later date.

The Ghoulie Hatch

All 3 could use some dead static grass or flock or something, so whenever I get my hands on some of that... I'll probably touch these up a bit.

Also, I wanted to say thanks to Jacob Moxham for posting a link to my blog the other day, thanks again Jacob.

XXXII: Objectives Primed

2009-10-28T11:57:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the crappy picture (I'm still trying to find a good way to light these for macro photography). Still have a loooooong way to go on these painting-wise. My hobby budget is pretty tight at the moment, and I don't have many colours to choose from, so I may just put a call in to my friendly local game store to see if I can dip my brush into some of their pots to finish these off before Halloween.

I'm a cartoonist by day, so I often have more art supplies than I realize. The bad news is that the pastels I used to have (and never used) and was thinking of using for weathering powders seem to have been given away or lost. The good news is I apparently have a tone of oil paints & thinners. We'll see if I can put those to use on some tanks or something later on down the line.

XXXI: "Counts as" Tanks

2009-10-22T17:20:00.000-07:00

Conversions like these gorgeous Blood Pact vehicles by johnstoysoldiers and discussions like this one on santacruzwarhammer fill me with hope & inspiration for the tanks in my Nurgle army.

The thing is, I'm new to this hobby & even newer to kit-bashing outside the GW product range... but that is exactly what I intend to do to represent the possessed Vindicator in my army. So, I'm reaching-out, to you, oh internet: please help me find some kind of marvelous (inexpensive) tank model kit to stand-in for a chaos vindicator (or please, just point me in the right direction)!

Any and all suggestions are welcome & appreciated!

~thank you

XXX: The Ghoulie Hatch

2009-10-08T16:51:00.000-07:00

The Ghoulie Hatch is now ready for paint. Dverning Suggested attaching the hatch, and when I saw scdarkangel's Grot Tank, I got an idea for a hinge. John's is much nicer looking than mine, but I had a wider hatch so I went with a longer looking hinge.

XXIX: Third Objective Marker

2009-10-03T18:37:00.000-07:00

I'm calling my third objective marker "The Ghoulie Hatch"
I'm not sure if I'm going to use the lid or not yet.
Inspiration came from this:

XXVIII: Second Objective Marker

2009-10-03T01:16:00.000-07:00

I picked-up 2 thicknesses of plastic-card today, and some new bases.

I had an idea for my second objective marker, I'm calling it: "Gun Coffin". It is essentially just a bunch of guns stored in an open grave.
Here's how I did it:

first I cut a coffin-shaped hole in the 40mm base, then I glued together this little coffin from pieces of the "NO SMOKING" sign

after that, I cut off two of those rings from the bottom of the base, glued one underneath & one above, drilled a hole to connect them and voila a slot for a banner-pole

next I chopped-up some toothpicks & started gluing them onto the outside of the coffin

I'm still not 100% sure if I'm going to throw dirt in the coffin around the skelleton, or do some kinda muddy water-fx

I added a little piece of a 25mm base for a little step on one side

and over here on the other side, eventually there will be a pile (separately painted) weapons

...and the answer to the question in my last post "will GS alone be enough to hold that metal book in that marine's plastic hand?"; NO.

So, I'll have to go back & pin the book in-place & re-sculpt the book spine. I did glue it onto a larger base which does make it look a bit nicer, I think (even though there's still a little bit of over-hang). One step forward, two steps back.

XXVII: First Objective Marker

2009-09-27T14:28:00.000-07:00

Here lie the WIP remains of one heavily decorated beaky loyalist.

Over at Papa Nurgle they're running a monthly challenge, and I needed a lil' break from working on my Champion, so I gave it a shot. This is my first try at making an objective marker... I think the base might be a little too small, but I finally found a use for all those purity seals. Here's hoping that blob of GS keeps the chaplain's book in place.

(man, I suck at photography!)

XXVI: Makings of a Champion (continued)

2009-09-24T20:30:00.000-07:00

Haven't done much work on this guy yet, but here's a mock up I did (using kneadable eraser as putty to hold the bits in-place). He's waiting on a backpack and I think I'll wait 'till I get a proper sculpting tool to do any more GS work on him. The prospect of sculpting antlers is making me a little nervous. I also have to decide on how to base this guy... something appropriate for his rank.

XXV: Makings of a Champion

2009-09-16T11:51:00.000-07:00

The makings of my first champion of Nurgle. Lots of GS work ahead.

I eventualy want his head to look like this guy's:

wish me luck!

XXIV: Pair of Plague Monks

2009-09-11T15:24:00.000-07:00

Still no bolter-damage, and the robes need to be a little more raggedy, but I thought I'd share what I put-together last night. In the end, the plan is to have two flamer squads, so this pair'll probably get split up. I tried to make them both distinctive, but similar enough to not be out-of-place with the rest of the boys in the squad.

I also did some work on a squad champion... but I'm not sure if I like him yet.

XXIII: Chainmail Veil

2009-09-10T15:29:00.000-07:00

Today I did my first tests with Green Stuff. I think it came-out pretty well. I have another one of those hooded heads with the exposed face... I think I'll give it the same treatment. I mixed more material than I needed, so I rolled the left-overs into little balls; I might try to sculpt them into censer balls later (I may even try to make chain if I'm feeling up to it).

XXII: Plasma for Two

2009-09-09T10:41:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of Plasma toting Plague Marines I made yesterday from berserker & DA bits... with a bone hand & a leg thrown-in from the skeleton warriors box. No champions in my plasma squads, so I think I have almost everything ('cept for a rhino-tank) I need to put everybody together already.

Still been too chicken to try out my GS, but there's still plenty of time for that.

And here's a better picture of a couple of their squad mates.

XXI: My first Break

2009-09-07T18:49:00.000-07:00

The chainsword hand broke off my chappy yesterday. I would have been pissed off, but I knew it wasn't pinned, and that breakage was a risk (just didn't realise how fragile it would be). The chainsword hand he used to have was a little messy from some sloppy gluing.... so I think I'm going to pin-on one of the berserker chainswords instead. Lesson learned!

I've also included a pic of this other Plague Marine I'm working on... just 'cause I'm having alot of fun putting him together.

XX: Bone Leg

2009-09-06T21:15:00.000-07:00

Here's a crappy picture of a WIP plague marine made mostly of bits from the berserker box I got today. One of the arms is from a chappy & the bone leg is, of course, from that box of skeleton warriors I picked-up not too long ago.

I pinned the bone-hip and the chappy shoulder; my first attempt at pinning. I also weighted the base.

XIX: Bezerker Green

2009-09-06T14:00:00.000-07:00

At last, I have Green Stuff!!
I wonder if I can make any use of it without proper tools... tonight I will do some sculpting experiments with toothpicks.

XVIII: My First Boners

2009-08-26T13:52:00.000-07:00

I just bought these. I'm guessing the bigger box has more selection for arms & stuff, but this ought to do for the few conversions I have in mind right now.

XVII: The first eight

2009-08-14T01:04:00.000-07:00

Here's a crappy picture of the first eight plague marines, all bassed-up. Three are still waiting on backpacks, but most of 'em are ready to go to paint.

XVI: Back Again (now with more BackPacks!)

2009-08-11T14:32:00.000-07:00

Another customized backpack post:

I reckon the new hose & walnuts add a little something that was missing on the right-hand backpack.