ByronM - Black & White AND Under Construction

 

For my second entry of the day I am covering off my last two mandatory green pass studio spaces, although I plan to do more.  

First up, I am visiting the Black & White studio where I really had no idea what to do, and was just going to paint up a random Great War figure in B&W, but then I saw a post on the blog and changed my mind. I am therefore stealing JohnathanO's wonderful idea of painting up some Weeping Angels.  

I found a STL file for them online, and printed out a pair of them to paint, but one had the wing kind of separate a bit, and while ok for a statue, I printed off a second pair of the so that they were perfectly correct.  I then broke out the airbrush and did a quick black base coat and then a zenithal white highlight.  I then blasted it with a stone grey colour, washed them and then applied some quick stone grey highlights.  Super fast and super easy, and I think they turned out awesome!  So thank JohnathanO for the great idea, as I now have some great little pieces I can use as Angels or simply terrain bits.

Next up I am visiting the Under Construction space with a return to a long sidelined project.  Years ago now Games Workshop released a bunch of new Ork Vehicles including a F1 race car, a jet car and a few others.  I immediately wanted to paint them up just for fun, then heard about a game that Curt plays called Charioteer and thought I would base them all up, find some Imperial vehicles to fit with them and start playing them as chariots just for fun, I mean after all Orks can't shoot the broadside of a barn anyway, so close in combat is their thing anyway. 

Anyway, I promised I was going to get some old stuff done this challenge and this resurrects that project with one of the Imperial vehicles I picked up for it, an Adeptus Mechanicus roadster.

I painted this one to match my existing Adeptus Mechanicus force in deep crimsons and brass colours, and then based it to match the Ork vehicles that I had started before.

 

 

Overall I am really happy with how it came out and can not wait to get the other vehicles done now so that we can start racing.  Oh, and I might have laser cut a board for them to all fit into so that they look cooler when racing, so hopefully I can show that off sometime later in the challenge.

 

As for points, the statues are all 28mm figures so 5 points each = 20 plus the 20 points for the theme space.  And then the vehicle is a 28mm car so 20 points for it, plus another 20 for the second theme space of the day, for a total of 80 points!

ByronM: 10mm Kings of War Salamander (Lizardmen) Army

 

One of my goals for this years challenge is to finish a second Kings of War (KOW) army in 10mm scale so that I can indoctrinate welcome new players to this wonderful game in this great scale.  I had always wanted to paint up a Lizardman army for Warhammer Fantasy Battle, but never got around to it, and ended up giving the figures to my son Riley to paint.  So when I saw the amazing files for some10mm sculpts from "Forest Dragon" I just had to jump on board and pick them up as my second KOW army, and got to work printing out an armies worth of them.

I have kept them all based to 28mm standard base sizes using my own Northern Lights Terrain Kings of War Bases that have a notch in the leading edge to help pick out the center point of each base of figured (which is important in the rule system).  This means that a unit that in 28mm scale would be based with about 18-20 figures on the base ends up having 45-90 figures on the base.  The actual number of figures never really matters in KOW (as long as it looks correct or cool), just the base size.

 

 

This first submission for the army has most of the core units, with mainly specialty units to come in a future submission.  I did this because I find it way easier to bang out the rank and file while motivation on a project if high, and then get to the reward of specialty / cool figures to paint later on in a project.  As it turns out, this core block of painting is actually 1020 points total (in game terms, don't worry, not painting points!) so with it I am actually already 1/2 done this project!

So with that I have 2 horde sized units of Tyrants.  These are massive 15-20' tall lizards that swing clubs the size of full grown trees to smash their way through the enemies.  They hit hard but do not have much in the way or armour or defences.  In 28mm scale there would be 6 per base, but here I did 13 per base to give a look of unordered giants lumbering forward in rough formation.  I also painted them in 4 different shades to provide a mixed look rather than the standard single skin tone that GW always did their lizardmen armies in.  I did keep predominately to the traditional blue skin tone as I find it looks really sharp, but mixed in some pale blues and greens as well for variation.

Next up are 2 regiment sized units of Salamader Primes, the core of the army as they are both effective on the attack and have sturdy defensive abilities to take a hit.  In 28mm scale there would be 20 per base for these units, but in 10mm scale I put 60 on one base and 75 on the other base and really like how packed they look (especially the 75 model base).  I kept some variation of colour with these as well, using 3 different shades of Scale 75 Instant Color paint (Replenish Blue, Paralyze Blue, and Magic Blue) and find that the slight variation makes them look more realistic to me.

 

 

Lastly a pair of regiment sized units of Skink Ghekkotah Hunters with blowpipes.  These are smaller troops so end up on a smaller base.  Since they have the Pathfinder and Stealthy rules I kept them spaced out more on the base and much closer to the actual model count that they would have had in 28mm scale, but I did add a champion to each base and a few Salamaders to the back of the units with two-handed weapons as minders/tenders.  The smaller lizards are a bit flighty with lower moral than their larger brethren so I pictured having a few larger lizards with them as support, but hanging back to the rear of the unit as they are not able to sneak around as much so follow as a reserve.  They play ZERO effect in game terms and I just put them there for looks cool factor and fluff.

 

 

All of these were super fast to paint with the Scale75 instant colours, and are not great individually, but I think they look pretty damn good when all ranked up. So while more could be done to them, I am leaving them as is and moving on.

From ByronM: 15mm Striking Scorpions and Wizard's Tower

 

For today's post I have a few items, but first up are some more 15mm Warhammer 40k items.  These are some of the left over models from last years Eldar project.  These are 11 3d printed resin Striking Scorpions and a Wave Serpent for transport.

 

While normally only 10 models are in a squad I painted up both versions of the squad exarch (leader) so that I have options in game.  One version has twin swords and shuriken pistols and the other has a huge two handed chain sword.  I also have the Wave Serpent ready to transport them into battle at a moments notice. 

 

 

I tried to go with the original green and yellow paint scheme but I tried several times to get the swords and guns to look good in yellow and I eventually had to give up and go with black and silver for them.  I did leave some markings and the hair in yellow, although it just would not pop bright yellow no matter what I did, so not thrilled with them, but too frustrated to do any more.

Next up is a 3d printed tower that I printed at 10mm scale to use as terrain for my 10mm Kings of War project.  I tried to give it some character by painting the stones in various shades, and think it worked out well.  It should look good on a hill top in a game soon. As for size it is about 4" tall and has a base about 2" square.

ByronM - Horus Heresy in 15mm

 

Day 2 of the event and my second post.  I started these guys yesterday but had to finish the basing and clear coat off this morning before work.  Not that there is a lot to finish on them (let alone do at all) since they are pretty basic paint jobs.

A group of us in Winnipeg are doing Horus Heresy in 15mm, you will likely see Scott C and Steve A post some this Challenge, and a lot of armies were already selected and I have a TON of stuff to paint already this year.  I still wanted to get involved and play a few games though, so I started looking at what armies were out there and came across the Iron Warriors.  

 

 

Their paint scheme is silver, with black guns and black and yellow hazard stripes or chevrons on their shoulders and vehicles.  Sign me up!!!  I primed these silver after finding army painter silver primer, and then brush primed the bases black.  Once the challenge started all I had to do was paint the guns, shoulderpads, add some bronze accents and wash them with Agrax Earthshade (I put that sh*t on everything!), and they were done!  I should be able to get a whole army done in no time with these!

The Rhino was a little more problematic due to the yellow being hard to get coverage in a large area smoothly and evenly.  Trust me I tried, 4 or 5 times!!  In the end I said screw it, sanded it off, broke out the tape and masked around the areas I wanted yellow.  I then re-primed those areas white, then airbrushed yellow.  Perfect and simple, and nice and clean.

 

 

I then proceeded to ruin it with my unsteady hands trying to paint straight lines for the hazard lines.  Oh well its good enough!

For anyone interested these are the 6mm epic STL files from thingiverse and Cults3d and then scaled up about 260% to look correct against other 15mm figures.  While a little chunky looking, I think they look pretty good for Iron Warriors who are supposed to be staunch siege fighters.  

More on this project to come over the course of the challenge, as well as the rest of my 15mm Eldar from last year that got shelved over the summer.

ByronM: 1980's - Boba Fett

 

Well, another challenge is underway, and as luck would have it I was off today due to working an extra day last week.  That gave me time to get several projects underway, but one key question bugged me, what to start with....

While looking at the map the last few days I realized that I pretty easily had something for pretty much every room without even hunting too hard.  One of the only rooms I was not sure what to do with was the 1980's room, not having anything that I would view as quintessential 80's, then I happened across some Star Wars Legion figures and Boba Fett and realized that the best Star Wars movie came out then, exactly 1980 in fact, The Empire Strikes back.  So this entry will count as my first foray into the AHPC Studios as well as my first of the challenge.

Time to get painting...

Painting Boba Fett also got a figure that was sitting here primed on a painting stick for the last 2 challenges done and out of the way.  He was simply primed black and left for the last 2 years so I started by applying a zenithal highlight to the base coat and then started blocking in the colours.

I tried to stick to the original colours as much as I could find and remember.  I am sure I got a few things wrong, but overall I am pretty happy with the look of this guy. He is a bit rough, but I tried to leave him a little rough to get the battle worn look he has in the movies.  Not sure if it worked, but he looks OK next to the rest of my Star Wars Legion figures, so that is good enough for me.

Kaiser however, does not look impressed....  Or maybe he is just curious about what all this painting is for.

Well, back to the painting table, I have many many 10mm figures that have had washes slapped onto them sitting drying and waiting to get some more paint on them....

Have fun everyone!

ByronM - The Madness is about to begin... Analogue Painting Challenge #13

 

 "Well, it's almost that time of the year once more", I said merrily one morning over coffee a few weeks ago.  "Christmas vacation?" asked the wife.  "No, even better!" I replied quickly.

"What's better than that?", she inquired and then continued, "It's too cold for another motorcycle trip, and I am starting a new job soon so it's not a southern vacation".  If you were here, you could have heard that questioning worried tone in her voice that only a wife sensing impending financial disaster can have.

"Why it's time to prep for the painting challenge of course, and then to get more stuff painting as soon as holidays start!", I said cheerfully.

The reaction was immediate and terse....  "No more new projects this year!  You have more than enough that you started over the last several that are not done, and we are looking for a new house and need to keep minimalist so we can clean and move fast when we do." I am sure that there was more, as the next time I looked at my watch 30 minutes had past, but much like Charlie Brown sitting in his classroom (man, that dates me doesn't it) all I heard was wah, waah, wah.... 

(I expect to get smacked for this, but it's still funny and worth it)

So, with that warning in mind, what did I do?  Did I stop all plans of future expansion into new and exciting areas of miniature wargaming?  

Hell no!  

I immediately starting printing figures for Horus Heresy in 15mm that a few friends have started playing, saw that Malifaux had a 3rd edition out that I had not tried yet and had to get going on, starting printing a new 10mm Lizardman army for Kings of War, and printed some terrain to go with several games.

Then I went and visited Curt and got introduced to Turnip28...  That led to printing more models and terrain for the challenge.  

A unit of Fodder for Turnip28 printed and primed and ready to go!

 <I sense another smack incoming>

Now, in some far remote part of my brain, I know that Kim is correct (DON'T TELL HER THAT OR I WILL NEVER LIVE IT DOWN!!!!) that I have way too many unfinished projects kicking around and that I really do need to finish or get rid of some.  But, having a war gamer get rid of miniatures though as all of you know is as likely as Golem giving up the one ring willingly, NOT gonna happen even on a cold day in hell!!! 

So, with all of that in mind, and in an attempt to both appease the wife in some small way and to "Slay the Gray" I have made a list of just some of the projects I have on the go, and am going to endevour to get at least 3-4 of them finished this year, although I am going to try for more than that, but let's start out with reasonable expectations, unlike something like"No more new projects this year!" 

Byron's Projects of Shame and Impending Divorce if not Resolved

• Malifaux gremlins (assembled and primed last year but never touched)
  
• Malifaux ten thunders (started way back in challenge 8 or 9)
• Arena Rex Egyptians (started in challenge 10 )
• Arena Rex Collusium (planned in challenge 11 and never started)
• Kingdom Death (finish some survivors I assembled and based up for challenge 11)
• Western Commanche Indians ( started last year but only painted the mounted ones, not the infantry)
• Western Texas Rangers (primed and based last year but not touched)
• Ork Vehicles for chariot game (2 done, but 4 still sitting from challenge 10)
  
• Hagglethorn Hollow buildings for Frostgrave (printed and sitting for 2 years)
  
• Dwarf Frostgrave faction ( printed last year and not touched)
  
• Mierce vikings (primed last year then didn't touch)
• French 28mm Napoleonic unit (I assembled one last year and then didn't touch it, and I try to do one unit a year)
• Kings of War 10mm terrain (printed and primed last year)
• Gaslands terrain (printed but not even primed last year) 
• Gaslands Cars (want to finish at least 1 more faction)
  
• 6 or 8 Napoleonic tall ships to expand my fleet (way back from challenge 8 or 9)
• British WW2 army (started challenge 10 as part of the theme weeks and then left sitting)
• German WW1 unit (from my great war collection, I found 2 primed and ready to go units)
  
• MORE MORE MORE

Add to the above the new projects I have that include the following:

• Iron Warrios for Horus Heresy in 15mm
• 10mm Lizardman army for Kings of War
• At least 1 unit for Turnip28 with Curt 
• SEVERAL single models or units from various games that I just want to paint

As you can see I have a whole lot of crap to get at least started on this year....  The stuff in the image above is everything I have either primed or waiting to be primed that I could find quickly and dig out for a picture, I have WAY more stuffed away in boxes and cupboards.  

However, I am so far behind getting things done and even just getting things ready for this years challenge that I was not even going to write a starting blog post this year.  Curt however has shamed me into it, so I got to work the last few days cleaning up the painting area, priming a pile of figures, and (of course) printing more to add to the pile of grey.  Which led to this post.

Above is my painting area as it stands right now... Tidy, but still a mess as everything basically got stuffed randomly into drawers and cupboards, so there is much more to do! 

Part of the reason I am so behind this year (besides work being busy, and looking for a new house with shop) is the fact that we got a new puppy this year.  While he is so much fun, he is also a lot of time and effort (worth it, but still).  So, here is hoping that Kaiser will help with painting this year as he seems to like sleeping by my feet while I am painting, so that is a good thing so far!

Kaiser looking to see what I am doing

With all of that said, I hope everyone has everything all prepped and ready to go and that everyone has a blast this challenge!

Best of luck everyone,

Byron

Steve, Gaslands, Gun Turrets

 Gun Turrets for the  Gaslands Event Scenario "Arena of Death"

Most guns and all gun mounts are 3D print designs I found of Thingiverse.  I wanted some gun style  variety, so did a minor kit bash to swap in  some  longer barrel guns that were left over 3D prints from a bunch of Gaslands bits Byron printed for a Gaslands build day with the guys back in 2020.  I painted some green into each gun to mostly infer led lights to identify to drivers and spectators that the remote gun turrets were "active",  partly to just add some some color to perk up the grey metal and browns.