So to start this month off, I want to show you guys the Non-Adepticon related painting that I completed this month. Its a short list though so don’t worry, you’ll get your Adepticon coverage shortly!
The first and only model that I completed outside of Adepticon prep was the below Deathwatch Space Marine. I inherited a small Deathwatch army and combined it with my already existing (unpainted) Deathwatch force last year with the intent to (someday) paint it. My plans were moved forward as fellow warlord, Kevin C. has been painting up his Deathwatch and having so much fun doing it that I simply had to join in the fun!
You’ll see the first test model completed below, with the rest of his Kill Team not far behind. I really didn’t want to spend hours edge highlighting these models so I pulled out the airbrush to test my limits and get a nice deep black color.
I’m pretty happy with this tester, it really pulls off the “Special Forces” vibe that the Deathwatch are known for, but I think I will be punching up the grey highlights just a tad on the future models! I’m hoping to get the first 10 models done this month then hop over to finish those Old World Chaos warriors I showed off last month.
Adepticon
Next up we have the main event, Adepticon! I’m going to start out with a quick overview of the army I painted up for the event: My beautiful Ultramarines Boarding party for Horus Heresy! I’ve always wanted to build, paint, and play a force of marines all decked out in boarding shields, and this year’s Adepticon was the perfect opportunity! I didn’t grab any pictures of these lads on the table as I actually only played 1 game with them (I skipped the games to hangout with a couple of British chaps as you’ll read about down below) but they looked marvelous and will definitely be on the table again soon!
Other than Horus Heresy, I was able to play in the Lord of the Rings Doubles Tournament on Friday and partnered with my steadfast companion Middle Earth Mike, we brought a company of 50 Warriors of Minas Tirith to battle…3 battles to be exact!
It was a great outing for Gondor as we pulled out 2 major wins with only one loss! More importantly, we had 6 fantastic opponents and shared many beverages over the course of the day!
If we’re going to be honest, it was a miracle we stayed standing all day, and as such I won’t regale you with tales of the battles, I’ll just leave a nice gallery of pretty pictures below for your viewing pleasure!
I finished Adepticon off with a couple new skirmish games that I shamefully have now fully invested in. Below on the left, you’ll see a picture from a game of What a Cowboy! that I was able to demo, a fierce battle between a Mormon family and a small group of Confederados! You can read more about this showdown here on Goonhammer.com
The right picture above was taken during my first ever game of Warzone: Eternal, a brand new remake of an old wargame from the 90’s that was brought back last year via kickstarter. I walked by their booth in the vendor hall and was immediately smitten with the cool 90’s technopunk vibe of the models and the fast-paced game play. As I mentioned above, I am not fully invested in this game so expect to see some techno-samurai showing up on your hobby feed shortly!
As I continued my (very hungover) stroll through the vendor hall on Thursday, I came across a booth where you could test out the Two Thin Coats paint range, there was no way I was going to resist the opportunity! While I sat there, I was able to chat with a nice British chap about his new business, his new wife, and all of the exciting hobby projects that he is looking forward to over the next few months…oh and then another nice British chap came by and I just had to memorialize it as you can see below next to a nice little frog I painted up at the booth.
Once I was bitten by the painting bug (curse you Duncan) I absolutely needed to paint some more. I wandered around Adepticon forlornly for about an hour before I stumbled on a FREE hobby area! Adepticon yet again proving that it is Disney for wargamers! I grabbed a cheap brush from one of the many vendors around (I later found out they had free brushes, oh well!) and sat down to paint the event model that I received from Victoria Miniatures as part of my Adepticon swag bag!
As you can see, this model turned out incredible! I only had the one size brush and I knocked it out in just a few short hours but I am tremendously happy with the results!
Coming off of the Adepticon high, I am again so thankful for the ladies and gents that throw that incredible event every year. Every time I go I love it more and more- I feel like I still discover new and exciting new ways to enjoy the convention and I will definitely attend again next year! The discovery of Warzone: Eternal(more to come), Duncan’s Two Thin coats, and the Adepticon hobby area have me absolutely buzzing about the next convention…All of that on top of my normal excitement to play my normal games and explore the convention!
Until Next time, Adios!
Austin B.
Short-cuts Make For Long Delays
Well what started as a small detour to break up my painting and prevent burnout has turned into my primary focus. Having examined what I had all in my attic for Battletech, as well as the new releases coming out, plans for the two forces I discussed in the last article have ballooned to many now, as I split up my backlog between factions and try to fit the new releases into the mix as they come out. And, most hilariously, I have even detoured from the two factions I detailed last time in favor of others! No further work has been done on Clan Goliath Scorpion’s Omega Galaxy, or the Bavarian-inspired RDF2 of the Hanseatic League. Instead, others have taken hold of my attention, of whom I shall now regale you!
The first and most far-in are the first of my two custom Mercenary bands: the Solar Knights. Initially planned as a bit of a joke, I quickie decided I actually wanted to move ahead on them in earnest. The idea behind them is rather fun and amusing, with most of the mechs’ names being suitably ‘medieval,’ with such options as the Warhammer, Black Knight, Templar, or Longbow. My other Mercenary company is similarly themed, though I am far looser with theirs than here. Painting all of these took up the majority of the first half of the month, while I worked out more detailed plans for how to divide up my remaining mechs. AT this point, most have actually been allocated to one project or another, and I have only a few spares with no home. For now…
The second of my Mercenary bands, and far less completed than the first since they are a more recent project, again spun out of a joke. The theme this time around is the Wild West, with Scorpions and snakes (the Adder), and eventually Gunslingers, Marshalls, and Enforcers.I really quite like sticking to a theme with most everything. It can be quite fun and ground otherwise absurd projects. Hopefully I will get some more of these guys done this month. Perhaps polish off all the models I currently have for them. There are only about a dozen more to do!
Exiting the Inner Sphere, I’ve also found myself working on two complementary forces: Clan Snow Raven’s Zeta Galaxy, and the Alliance Grenadiers of the Outworlds Alliance. Both come together to form a combined Raven Alliance force, though they remain separate just as their two militaries still do in the lore. In larger games of Alpha Strike I may play the two of them together, but really they’re just two tangentially related painting projects under the Battletech umbrella. Technically Zeta Galaxy shouldn’t be around for the era I am intending to depict, but I’ll let that slide for what is a very cool and fun paint scheme. Best depicted on the Black Python, each mech actually has a jade rhombus painted on their torso. It’s just that for most of the mechs the shape wraps from the front of the torso to the back.
And last of all, heading back to the Inner Sphere, and back to my first Battletech faction, I have a single test model finished for yet one more project: the New Avalon Institute of Science’s (NAIS) Training Cadre, of the Federated Suns/House Davion.
For this unit my plans have not been totally finalized, but I don;y want to push much past a Company (so 12 mechs). I have about 8 models already picked out, so it’s just sorting out the final 4 or so. This unit was more born out of necessity, as with some of the new releases there were several cool mechs that I didn’t really have an appropriate faction to give them to. And with my initial Davions complete, for all extents, I decided that a new, smaller project to eat up some of these mechs would be a fun idea. Plus it was a great opportunity for some wild camouflage! I am hoping to complete a few more of these guys within just the next few days. But otherwise, stay tuned for much more mechs to come next month! That, and perhaps a detour back to Shatterpoint, with the new releases on the horizon…
Kevin C.
Cawdor Rehabilitation
Last year, fellow painter and blogger Austin traded my Nomads from the Ash Wastes box (which, honestly, I only got for the Orlocks and the terrain) for an abandoned project of his – Cawdor gangers. While my Orlocks will always be very near and dear to my heart, I’ve often felt that Cawdor epitomizes everything Necromunda – numberless, filth-covered gangers running around with weapons made out of literal trash.
This was the condition of the miniatures that I received from Austin – eight mostly painted, five with some paint on them, and about seven more that were not even assembled. I went about assembling and priming the unassembled ones, as well as an additional box of Redemptionists that I received for my last birthday (more on them later).
With the miniatures that were mostly painted, I just changed the robes color that he painted from a burgundy-purple to a brighter red, to give it more contrast. This was deliberately to unify the paint scheme for the entire Cawdor gang. I also based them and added some flame tufts on the base because, you know, Cawdor.
I next tackled some of the partially painted miniatures, which proved to be more difficult than I was anticipating. I couldn’t do an exact match for colors, so I ended up trying to unify the miniatures with some Agrax Earthshade, to at least cover the differences in grime and gradient. I also started playing around with different colors for the masks, and added some green for the eye lenses, since that will contrast well with the red and beige.
The miniatures that had no paint on them, I used some modified versions of what I had already painted, as well as some tips from online. I did not like the setup of the tutorial, so I will not post it here. Suffice to say, the video used the base – wash – rebase – highlight formula in the most obtuse way possible, reusing the same wash multiple times in contingent regions of the miniature. This really slowed down the painting, since I had to, unnecessarily, wait for the wash to dry before continuing. Not a fan.
Cawdor Redemption
As mentioned previously, I received a box of Cawdor Redemptionists for a birthday a while back, so I decided to add them to the painting queue. It proved… more difficult than I had expected to replicate the paint scheme I used for the gangers with the Redemptionists. I suspect this is because they were much less scraps and tatters and more robes and metal frames.
The final result was quite a bit shinier than I had anticipated, only partly due to the Chrome highlight I used (similar to what I used on my Word Bearers a few years ago which I really liked). They will definitely stand out against the rest of the gangers, but I lost quite a bit of the uniformity that I was going for. Maybe I will give the Redemptionists names, and then use the gangers as chaff in games.
RPG Miniatures
As a bit of a palette cleanser, I decided to take up two miniatures I have used in my ongoing in-person RPGs, Pathfinder and D&D. For Pathfinder, I play as a slightly older rapier-wielding swashbuckler, and I only had one miniature that met that scheme – Janus Draik from the Blackstone Fortress set.
I am quite pleased with how he turned out, and he really stands out as a flamboyant character on the table.
My second miniature was not a Games Workshop miniature, but one that I got from PAX Unplugged last year (https://dmminisus.com/products/dragonborn-paladin-krimmdar). I am playing as a gold dragonborn paladin in the D&D game that my college buddies have going on, so I tried to replicate what equipment my character has – adamantine plate, sun blade, etc.
I’ll be honest, I was not terribly pleased with the sculpt. A lot of detail was missing in the miniature, and so a lot of the contrast I was trying to put into the miniature just didn’t work. Even still, I was able to get a good adamantine effect using watered-down Talassar Blue Contrast over Leadbelcher, with some selective highlights of Chrome. The skin was inspired by this really great video on painting textured gold from Artis Opus (https://youtu.be/i7FeFkvcb38?si=me_c7yh3ckDpB1s-), and the sword was an adaptation of the tutorial on Demonic Hellblades using only Contrast Paints (https://youtu.be/ajZhDsrGa-A?si=T1qrBrFdAkRBAz_8 ).
Deathwatch Incoming
For my April project, I plan to complete my Deathwatch army, which has had quite the storied history. I was able to get a Dreadnought completed before the end of the month, so consider this a teaser.
Until next month!
Michael S.
This month I have more Imperial Fists to add to my slowly growing army and am finally getting back around to Old World. Recently I have been spending a lot of my hobby time playing other board games and card games, but towards the end of the month I got back into the saddle.
I took the better part of a Saturday morning this month to prime and basecoat a bunch of models, including some Hellblasters and a load of skeletons for my Tomb Kings
Basecoating Imperial Fists, even with an airbrush, is quite the test of patience. Many people like to prime in pink/red, but I prefer to work my way up through orange browns as it is much easier to color match in the event you make a mistake later during painting. It also brings out the shadows nicely without oversaturating them, leaving me with a nice muted yellow. These Hellblasters are still sitting primed alongside some other half-painted models, but they are at LEAST primed 😊.
I did manage to get some good work done on a unit of 5 scouts. For the first time, I was happy with the way the fatigues on the scouts turned out. In my long history of painting I have always attempted cream-colored fatigues, only to be disappointed with the final look. The bright yellow of the armor gave me an opportunity to go with a darker, near-black for the cloth.
I incorporated some extra urban rubble into the bases with a simple color pallete of black, browns and greys. The leather pouches need some attention, and the armor needs to be pinwashed, but these guys certainly look good enough to hit the table for now.
While I didn’t have a ton of progress this month, my curio cabinet is starting to come together and is at least all yellow, and only a few intercessors didn’t catch the muted yellow memo. Seeing this small army start to take shape has me excited to paint even more!
Tomb Kings progress has been limited to giving the dragon some proper jewelry and a drybrush. I was initially worried about the model looking too boring, so I tried to work in some reds and purples into the shadows. Not much, but just enough to add some visual interest. So far so good!
I sit here editing and collating the fantastic updates by our diligent warlords, the final ones of the year, on a bullet train heading south from Tokyo. Not the most typical of the locations I’ve been known to work from but a fitting place to tie the bow on this fantastic year of hobbying by both myself and the fantastic warlords that have shared their work with us over the course of the year.
I wanted to take a minute before diving into the incredible work of each of the artists to thank the incredible team here at UCH. Each of these men has inspired me and made me work to be a better hobbyist. I started this series in an effort to get more done over the course of the year, and I have accomplished this in spades. I was thankfully not alone in this, dragging 5 other hapless fools onto the year-long journey that you have read through this year. I am incredibly thankful for their writings, and insight. I hope that we can continue to entertain, and maybe even inspire you into 2025 and beyond!
Austin B.
November Progress
Before I move onto December, I actually have to catch you all up on what I was able to accomplish in November! Not that it was very much, hence in part the lack of a post from me in the last month. But I got some work done on some of the new – and older – Shatterpoint boxed sets. I am hoping to get a bit more done before the next set of Rebel and Empire boxes drop sometime in Q2 2025. And I have a bit more to paint up for an event in February. (Events are a great motivator…)
With all the holiday preparation as well as some business at work, I didn’t get as much done as I had hoped, though finally finishing off the “This is Some Rescue” box was nice, and Lando’s box is actually pretty close to completion as well, with the Wing Guard half-way in progress.
December Progress
Now paradoxically, December ended up being a much more free month for me, despite having yet another holiday to prepare for. While it’s also not as much as I have done in some other months, I did get a good few heroes done for my Middle Earth armies in preparation for the new edition, including the Three Hunters: Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli. Mounted, even!
Gamling joins them, as does a mounted Rohan banner bearer – his dismount having been painted over two years ago at this point for my footslogging Rohan army (that I showed off in the first ever post, actually!). I was unfortunately unable to get Theoden done as I had hoped to, so he remains unfinished (unprimed, even), as the model did not arrive till after I returned from my holiday celebrations. Expect him in January, alongside some fitting foes!
Atop those, I actually finally finished my Vampire team that I have left lying unfinished since before the start of this year! (Another item I showed off in the first post, as something “to be done!”) I painted them up to participate in a local event, and even walked away with Most Touchdowns! (Again, events are a great motivator…)
This is a bit of a cheat, since 9 of the models had already been completed (the Vargheist and 8 Thralls) last year. As was Wilhelm Chaney, who is here posing for the family photo. But I had to get those 6 Vampires done eventually, and actually base the whole team, and it was finally done! The project and event also finally got me to base Chaney, hence his inclusion in the photo, despite the fact that he’s been fully painted since his release in 2021!
Year in Review
And that’s it! That rounds out the year! Honestly, for what I wanted to do when I started on my posts, I have admittedly failed. My initial task was to get an army done for Warhammer: The Old World, and I have made significantly little progress in that regard. But as a general motivator to paint, I’m fairly happy with what I have been able to accomplish this year. I have abandoned some projects, most notably that Old World army (for the moment…), and I have certainly hopped around a lot in regards to what I am painting (how many times did I say “this is what I’ll be painting moving forward” only to change it the next month, or come back with some Shatterpoint models instead?), but posting for this blog has at least kept me painting, which isn’t quite something I could say about myself in years prior. Why do you think I have so many incomplete projects? I haven’t always posted consistently, either because I’ve felt I haven’t done enough, or because I was just too busy to get a post ready in time, but every month I have at least done something.
But to sum up what I have done this year:
-10 Squigs, 5 Squig Hoppers, and a Big Boss on Squig, all for The Old World (and all that was done for that game…)
-A whole, rather large Bolt Action army in the First Special Service Force, which consisted of 80 infantry, 2 mules, 2 guns, and 4 vehicles and their crew, completed in a month. As well as another tank and a few accessory pieces completed for the British (which I may have not shown off, oh well…)
-Three whole Blood Bowl Teams (Shadow College, Gnomes, and Vampires), and a small selection of Star Players and accessory models.
–A staggering 46 models for Star Wars: Shatterpoint, in an eclectic mix between Rebels, Imperials, and some Scoundrels.(Though I still haven’t finished those Ewoks…)
-A small handful of Necromunda models.
-Two random mechs? Haha!
-48 Landwehr and some Commanders for my Prussians (most of those never made it on these posts either, woops! Maybe when I do another army update… I also have some cavalry in progress, so perhaps they’ll make it in the next posts in January or Feburary!)
-Plus the above 8 models for MESBG!
I have also built those several dozen German infantry and vehicles, also for Bolt Action, but painting has been delayed as I reassess how I plan to actually paint them, unhappy with my few test models thusfar (hence why they haven’ty been shown). That, and the army book coming in late January means the army will be getting some revisions and new additions.
So my hobby progress has been very mixed, jumping around as I usually do.But it’s still fairly impressive. I certainly managed to churn out more in some years prior, when I was less busy (or at least pretending to be), but I am happy with how far along I have come on some projects, such as the Prussians and my ever-growing Shatterpoint collection; very happy with what I’ve completed, in the various Blood Bowl teams, and especially the FSSF; and fairly interested in what I have planned for the new year. Though I won’t spoil too much of that just yet…
As for my favorite model of the year, it was a bit of a three-way tie for me between Lando, Legolas and Gimli on horseback, and Darth Vader, but I have to say that the Darth Vader I painted way back in June remains one of my most impressive models. It was really fun trying to get some subtle differences between all the different blacks and really make the miniature read and pop without looking too dull, and I am very happy with what I was able to achieve with such a reduced color palette.
I’ll leave you all on that. Happy New Year! Hope to have more for you in the next!
Kevin C.
Dismounted Warriors of Rohan
I had a lot of older Rohan miniatures that I purchased from a friend, and I figured I should finish painting them before getting new Rohan miniatures. These miniatures were quite old – one even had a broken spear point – but I was determined to paint them in the same scheme as the riders. While they are not my best work, they will be good pieces to have in a scrap.
Hail Theoden King!
My friend ended up selling me not one, but TWO Theoden sets (so four miniatures total – two with helmets, two without helmets). I decided to do a little experiment in painting tutorials.
In my painting, especially this year, I use a lot of online painting tutorials. My academic conditioning has trained me to be as forthright as possible in citing them. There are two online painters that I have used, and they both happened to have painting tutorials of Theoden – Warhipster with Contrast+ (https://youtu.be/HYLbQpBF1fI?si=kic1rImVIe4m3X0W), and Pete the Wargamer (https://youtu.be/4vVjtCGy9RY?si=ByF2r_g0mJrcmhP7). I’ve used Warhipster for some of my terrain pieces, and I’ve used Pete for some of my earlier Blood Bowl teams. So, I figured I would compare the two and see how I felt about the results.
For the helmeted version, I used Warhipster. Admittedly, I was nervous about the free use of contrast paint all over the place, and it made it hard to control much of the borders between colors. That being said, I really loved how the miniature turned out, especially the steed.
I used Pete the Wargamer for the unhelmeted version of Theoden, which I suspect was made before the advent of contrast paints, as none were used. I was less pleased with this result, and I found it more frustrating to paint in his style. A lot of this frustration was due to hard-to-reach places and difficult effects to accomplish, such as lightening the raised designs of the armor.
All in all, I believe I liked the Warhipster scheme more, and so I used his method for some of the other miniatures I painted this month (more below).
Eowyn and Merry
I only had one set for Eowyn and Merry, so I decided to wait until after the experiment and copy which paint scheme I liked best. Even though Warhipster did not have a video tutorial for this specific miniature, I used his scheme for the horse, and more or less copied the method I used for the regular Riders of Rohan for Eowyn and Merry.
One thing I did change from the film adaptation is that I maintained all heroes’ horses as white. I plan to continue this with Haleth, Hama, and Hera (coming soon!). This is different from the films, which have the heroes on all different color horses, but I want this to be a visual cue for me when playing pieces on the board.
Battle of Edoras
As a “reward” to myself for finishing the whole Rohan army, I was able to pick up a boxed set right when it was released. I had these guys assembled practically hours after receiving them, but it just so happened that we had more than a week of miserable rain, sleet, and otherwise yucky weather, preventing me from priming them.
I finally did prime them right before Christmas, and I am excited about painting them next month. As an interesting study, I compared one of the new footmen to one of the old ones that I had just completed.
The new ones are clearly more detailed, and just seem much more interesting in scale and posture. I am sad I didn’t have the time to paint these guys this month, but I am excited about having them finished next month.
Gaunt’s Ghosts
While I wasn’t able to finish my Rohan Warriors in time, I was able to knock something off of my shelf in the meantime – my Gaunt’s Ghosts. I have had these guys on my shelf since June 2021, so it was nice to finally complete something extra for me.
As I discussed earlier, I decided to use the Warhipster video tutorial on how to paint these guys (https://youtu.be/MqviEDV03SU?si=GfGTk256Gzi0KGhO). I admit that I was a little disappointed with how the video was laid out. There was a lot of screen time spent on applying the layer, and not a lot of time explaining how one should paint the deviations from Gaunt and Rawne (the two that got the most screen time).
I still think I did a decent job, but I was hoping they would be fantastic. Instead, they are okay, and I am glad that I have them ready to play.
Now, if I could only use them in an actual Kill Team…
Year in Review
I have done more painting in 2024 than any other year previous, which is quite an accomplishment. I have assembled and painted two full armies, nearly completed a third, and gotten a lot of painting projects off my chest. All in all, I painted over 350 miniatures this year (counting those LI infantry 5-on-a-base as one miniature, by the way).
Assembled and painted the entire Bretonnian Army Box
12 Knights
3 Pegasus Knights and Lord on Pegasus
24 Archers
32 Men at Arms
Assembled and painted a huge Legions Imperialis Army
Three boxes of Solar Auxilia (12 Sentinels, 12 Ogryns, and 48 Infantry)
Three Support Artillery Boxes (36 Rapiers, 36 Tarantulas, and 12 Cyclopses)
Baneblades, Malcadors, and Valdors
19 Dracosans
6 Lightnings and two Marauders
Assembled, magnetized, and painted Titan Maniple (Warlord, two Reavers, and four Warhounds)
Painted four Blood Bowl teams (Norse, Black Orcs, and two Halflings)
Painted Kasrkin Kill Team
Painted Rohan Host
36 Rohan Riders
12 Rohan Warriors
Theoden, Eowyn, and Merry
Random Terrain Pieces
That being said, I still have many other projects on my workbench, so my queue for 2025 is already full.
The Best
My favorite miniature that I painted this year was actually one that I never posted. Austin and I went halfsies on some Brutes for Necromunda, and I am really pleased with how mine turned out. Granted, it died on its first campaign game, but that’s how Necromunda rolls.
The Worst
I have an unending hatred for that stupid Duke on Pegasus model. The paint scheme was eventually okay, but I really hated everything about this model – assembling, priming, painting. Glad it’s done with.
What’s Next Year
As far as what I have planned for next year, I already have the queue figured out.
Finish painting Battle of Edoras
Paint my remaining Necromunda miniatures (Cawdor and GSC) in time for our next campaign
Finish painting my old Deathwatch army (had this on my desk since 2016!)
Assemble Meduseld
I have a few more projects, but that will last me a while yet. I also got some new drybrushes for Christmas, so I am excited to try these out.
Until next year!
Jerry S.
Solar Auxilia: No More Lasrifles, Please.
This year has been very exciting for me, the release of plastic Solar Auxilia has been incredible and I have enjoyed every minute of it. From building, to painting, to playing; my hobby journey with Solar Auxilia has been a blast, even if a little longer than I would’ve liked in the end. As you can see here, I was prolific in my Solar Auxilia painting, the total count of infantry clocking in at 115 models in just 8 months, wow! I was able to finish the last 20 infantry this month, something I am very grateful for as I think I am mentally done with this particular scheme for the time being.
I thankfully still love the muted scheme I created for these models, the dark blue coupled with the greys and worn metals of the fatigues and armor plating really lends itself to the so called “dark millennium” and I think really captures the dearth of hope that is to be found on the battle fields of the Horus Heresy.
Bolt Action
I’ve continued the progress on my Bolt Action American force this month, focusing on completing a couple more Weapons teams, a Medium Machine Gun team and a medium anti-tank team that will hopefully help keep my GI’s alive as they navigate the battlefield. I’ve always loved the idea of overwhelming the enemy not in bodies, but in firepower, just as the American Army preferred in WW2 and these last two teams really help accomplish that idea on the tabletop.
Continuing Adventures in Middle Earth
The last of my true hobby progress was again in the realms of Middle earth. I have along with several others, began forming a regular group of MESBG players at a local hobby shop, playing weekly on Mondays and beginning to attend/plan events across the region.
One of those aforementioned events was a Helm’s Deep mega-battle. With 6 people on each side and hundreds of minis on either side, this was a spectacle indeed. It was tremendously fun seeing the many, many models I’ve painted for both Rohan and Isengard featured on the tabletop together. Indeed the Hornburg was manned almost entirely by Rohan models I myself painted! How cool is that!
This has been a great experience thus far and I hope that we can keep this progress moving forward into 2025. Speaking of 2025, the first month of 2025 I will be attending a couple events, hoping to bring a force of Gondor using the Reclamation of Osgiliath army in the new edition. I’ve always loved this part of the books and movies and using the Brothers Gondor together is always a fun time. In past editions, I had not used my Gondor in one force, opting to either use the Rangers of Gondor, or the various defenders of Minas Tirith and had based each force differently. This isn’t inherently an issue but I know it would bug me seeing an army on the table using 2 different basing schemes. As such, I set to work rebasing my warriors of Minas Tirith to match their Ranger pals. I gotta say, I love the results too!
To finish this year off, I spent the last week not at my hobby desk, but traveling around the islands of Japan. That being said, I am still a Warhammer junky through and through and as such, made sure to visit the Warhammer cafe in Tokyo. This is a sweet little spot to stop at in Tokyo, a larger than normal Warhammer store with a variety of incredibly well painted “miniatures” to gawk at while awkwardly trying to explain to your friends the differences between a warlord titan and whatever an “Age of Sigmar” is. Something I undoubtedly failed to do even as my friends tried as hard as they could to understand.
I snagged a couple snapshots of some of my favorite displays which you can see below. This was only a fraction of the total displays and if I ever was able, I would love to play a game and enjoy a coffee in this lovely store. In the meantime, I did snag the delightfully odd “Slaves to darkness” book and a lovely hoody only sold at the Cafe.
Closing thoughts on 2024
The year has flown by, and it was a great one by all accounts! I painted around 400 models this year by my counting:
115 Solar Auxilia
112 Tomb Kings
28 Arnor
42 Bolt Action Americans
35 Word Bearers
A Thunderhawk!
A 6×4 Middle Earth board!
Various miscellaneous characters and one offs.
An absolutely prolific year by numbers and something I am immensely proud of. Even with this wildly productive year, I still have much to do in 2025 and beyond. I was lucky enough to purchase a friend’s entire 40K and 30k collection this year, a great bargain but unfortunately adding to the backlog nearly as many models as I finished this year! UGH!
My favorite part of this year has been the Thunderhawk pictured below. This was an incredible journey, really challenging myself as a hobbyist. I don’t know how I’ll top it in 2025! (Please don’t ask about the Reaver Titan in my closet)
Enough of 2024 though, it’s 2025 now after all! In 2025, I’ve been thinking of what I want to accomplish, and although this list will undoubtedly change, maybe even in the first couple weeks of the year, It’s always a good idea to to start the year with a plan!
Finish my Solar Auxilia army! This should be relatively easy as I’ve only need to paint the tanks still
Finish my Tomb Kings Army. Again, this should be an easier task as there is only the various monsters and characters yet to do.
Paint MY 40K Deathwatch Army. I’m copying Kevin on this, this project needs to get done this year lol.
Tie up the various odds and ends for the various projects I’ve not finished. This is a broad goal, I just want to finish some of the odd characters and squads I’ve picked up over the years for my various armies.
Finally finish painting my Zone Mortalis board
Build and paint either my Warlord or Reaver titan.
Do more character and one-off projects. I’ve been doing a lot of Army painting the past few years and I think it would be rewarding to spend some more time on fewer models, challenging myself in new ways.
Expand the Urban Cowboy Hobbies network. I’ve often thought about starting a YouTube or podcast arm of my media Empire, maybe this is the year to do so!
Until next time!
Michael S
As the year comes to a close, it’s the perfect time to reflect on the progress and joys of hobbying. The last few months have been a busy time for me, balancing a new job and the holidays has left less time for Warhammer. December hobby time for me was mostly 30 minute chunks after work and I was pleasantly surprised with how much I was able to accomplish by adding one or two coats of paint each day. Despite the lack of dedicated time, I was able to paint up and build a few miniatures this month to show off.
December’s Work
My Imperial Fists have taken most of my attention this month. I was able to build a set of terminators and scouts I’ve had on sprue for a while now. I am also about halfway through a squad of Hellblasters (not pictured) bringing the model count up to 15 for the month.
For painting, said Terminators and Scouts received a heavy spray of yellow. 4-5 passes with an Airbrush was the price of a consistent coat of Bronze Brown. Another pass with Golden Yellow brought some color and saturation to the muted yellow-brown basecoat. One final highlight was applied to the most raised surfaces using Light Yellow to push the highlights.
Once I got the worst of the painting behind me, I went in by brush to apply the rest of the colors. The Terminators took around a week and a half of periodic work. Batch painting for 30 minutes every day made short work of this squad.
The Scouts were a bit different, since I was unsure how I wanted to paint them. In the end I settled for using a mix of colors for fatigues boots and leather. The sergeant came out nicely with pretty minimal effort. My next goal will be getting the rest of the squad to the same spot before moving on.
Year in Review: Finish the Damn Model
2024 has been a great year for me in hobbying! While I still find myself flitting from one project or model to another, I’ve painted more complete units this year than in most years I can remember.
Not counting basing, I’ve managed to fully paint the following units.
5 Imperial Fist Terminators
5 Imperial Fist Sternguard
1 Imperial Fist Apothecary
5 Black Templar Assault Intercessors
5 Black Templar Terminators
1 Black Templar Terminator Captain
5 Death Guard Tactical Marines (25 more of them just need me to apply some weathering; Missed opportunity to cash in BIG on hours of work.)
5 Death Guard Terminators
1 Imperial Guard Sentinel
20 Tomb Kings Skeletons
1 Lumineth Light of Eltharion
Furthermore I’ve built the following models, but haven’t had the chance to paint them fully.
Imperial Fist Command Squad
Imperial Fist Impulsor
5 Imperial Fist Intercessors
5 Imperial Fist Hellblasters
1 Black Templar Marshal
20 Imperial Guardsman
Imperial Guard Command Squad
2 Imperial Guard Heavy Weapons Teams
5 Kitbashed Fire Dragons
20 Tomb Kings Skeletons
36 Tomb Kings Skeleton Archers
16 Tomb Kings Skeleton Horses
1 Tomb King Necrolith Bone Dragon
While the list of unpainted models is still long, I’ve been way more engaged with the hobby this year and am looking forward to 2025! I can safely say this is the most productive hobby year I’ve had in a long time if not my entire history playing Warhammer. My goal moving forward is to just finish the damn model!
2024 Superlatives
A final article of the year wouldn’t be complete without a visual review of some of my work and things that stuck out in my mind. I’ve got a few superlatives to award…
Favorite Single Model:
My Imperial Fists Apothecary turned out so much better than I expected white armor to. This was one of my first forays back into oil washes in some time, and I loved the fact. The armor looks crisp but still has definition from the recess shading. I was most proud of the tabard, including a nice helix symbol and freehand outline that looks believable. A first for me in painting cloth!
Favorite Unit:
The first unit of skeletons I painted were a ton of fun! The old style kits brought back a ton of nostalgia from my entrance into the hobby and painting these was a breeze with speedpaints. I loved how the colors came together and am looking forward to getting the rest of them ready to paint in 2025.
Least Favorite Model(s):
After converting these characters up for my Death Guard force, I was really excited to get them painted up in white and green. After starting to paint them, my enthusiasm really dropped away as I felt they didn’t quite look the way I had hoped. My captain simply converted from Narik Dreygur I found is below. The model just hasn’t captured me the way it did once I started painting.
I haven’t totally given up on these three yet. I do eventually plan to get back around to these knowing a complete paint job will go a long way toward making them look a bit less “meh”.
Favorite Base:
This sentinel almost overtook the Apothecary for favorite model, but really the base is what I fell in love with. I put quite a bit of work into building some believable rubble and liquid pigments really helped tie everything together and up the soot and grime needed to sell the effect.
Most Painful Legends Casualty:
These Iron Golems (and 2 units of Untamed Beasts) took me lots of time and work to get looking spiffy in bare steel and the blood of their foes. Despite looking their best, an unfortunately timed retirement via Warhammer Legends meant they never got to see the tabletop with the rest of my Chaos Warriors. Time to start playing Warcry?
Least Fun Model to Build:
It’s a tie between the Skeleton Horsemen from my Tomb Kings and the old Chaos Knights I picked up early this year. Both of these have a lot in common: old models, mould lines, cavalry bases, mould lines, poorly fitted parts, did I mention mould lines?
Upon finishing both of these units, I had to take a sizable break from the hobby to retain my sanity. Enough said.
Favorite Model That Mysteriously Remains Unpainted Despite How Much I Like It:
In contrast to the other Death Guard characters, this captain doesn’t make me disappointed. I still love the conversions and use of a spare Eliminator helmet to give him a hood befitting any good officer of the 14th, but he still remains mostly unpainted.
I blame the result of the other characters I put together, and my frustration with metallics at the time of painting. Instead of powering through, I just left him to sit forever incomplete. I am starting 2025 by pushing him to the top of my priority queue. Hopefully I’ll be able to share a fully completed photo next month!
Looking Forward
In 2025 I am looking forward to another great year of hobbying. My goal is to continue to make progress towards fully completing projects and models instead of leaving them 80% complete for an eternity
A stretch goal would be to have my display cabinet only displaying completed miniatures… Maybe I’ll surprise myself?
IF I can complete that, I also want to branch out in media creation for the hobby and at some point create video tutorials for painting and other aspects of miniature painting. Who knows what the future may hold.
Cheers and happy holidays!
Joe R.
Well, you might have noticed it’s been a few months since I last participated. I fell off the wagon, got back on the wagon, fell off again, brought some paints on holiday, and here we are.
Blood Bowl – The Half-Shell Universe All Stars – Lizardman Team
This project changed dramatically. I got VERY tired of cleaning and assembling the metal models from Greebo (FYI, Greebo has since switched to resin which is much nicer). So, I decided to switch over to a set of 3D printed lizardmen models from BruteFun. It was faster to 1) download the files, 2) arrange and slice the files, 3) print the files, 4) remove the supports/clean the models, and 5) prime the models than it was to assemble a single metal model. I had hoped to finish these in time for Chaos Cup in November, but that did not happen. My friend Neil let me borrow his excellently painted Beach Shark team instead.
These are still very much on my TO DO list, but I do have a huge highlight from this work. I tried my first ever comic book style miniature! I had tried comic style late last year on some Necromunda bases, which worked out okay, but this was a whole model!
I follow Thunderbrush on Patreon, who releases guides on comic book style miniature painting. I still have a long way to go, but I was REALLY pleased with how this turned out.
Pathfinder – Keller Feelgood, NG Cleric of the Endless Road
I started painting this model while I was back in grad school (pre-2015). The model was used as one of my many Pathfinder Society miniatures when I was playing 2-3 times a week. He wasn’t one of my favorites, but the name Keller was cemented along-side his affiliation with Desna (the goddess of dreams in the setting).
This year I was asked to join a Pathfinder campaign in progress by a colleague I met in Kansas City. Turns out she was in DC now! I was a little apprehensive. My gaming group in North Carolina was really exceptional, and I was intimidated to find my place in another group. Thankfully, this has turned out to be a really wonderful group. I decided to revive Keller in Pathfinder 2nd Edition. Keller became a cleric of the Endless Road (a pantheon which includes Desna) with the edict to travel, explore, learn, and help. This incarnation also became an herbalist and brewer, striving to find new ingredients to improve his brews.
Since joining, I’ve worked on this model a couple of times. Each time he moves a little closer to being something I’m proud of. He’s also great for experimentation, since I’m really the only one who cares how he ends up looking on the table. Everyone else is using pre-painted D&D miniatures, so he already feels a little special.
Necromunda – The Junktown Jesters – Escher
I decided to take my paints with me for the holiday. It was a bit of a bust, BUT I did end up working on two additional models for my Batman villain themed Escher.
These are still a work in progress, but I think you can see my progress as a painter reflected in the model on the left. She represents Punchline, a relatively new Batman villain. I got this all done in… 2 hours? And that included playing around with some highlighting. The other one, if you can’t guess, is Mr. Freeze inspired. The skin needs some work still, but I’m fairly pleased with the “bones” of this model. I’ll even try doing some actual plasma effect (probably with dry brushing) and see what happens!
What A Cowboy/Dracula’s America
I got really into western miniatures this year. I don’t know why exactly, but my friend Neil is ALSO into western miniatures. We played a game of What A Cowboy and have aspirations to try Dracula’s America, Dead Man’s Hand, and Dead by Lead in the New Year.
I picked up a batch of metal lawmen from Dead Man’s Hand and was kindly gifted some Wargames Foundry western miniatures for X-Mas. I think this is going to be my next project.
I have already cleaned up the Dead Man’s Hand miniatures (including some shotgun repair work). I really DO NOT LIKE that these miniatures come attached to a mini metal base. So I took a 3D printed base file and messed around with it in TinkerCAD to remove a section. I then put the miniature in and applied Stucco to fill the rest of the hole. Not bad eh? Now I just need to do this for… 25 other western minis. I will still apply some basing materials over this Stucco base.
I also 3D printed a ton of western miniatures. I test printed several to get them in scale with the traditional models. I think it worked out alright. I’ll be mixing and matching as I get things ready to play a mini campaign with Neil. Or maybe all the Warlords will decide westerns are cool and clammer to join in on the fun.
Some Light Reading
I finished off this year by doing some light reading.
Both of these books came highly recommended to help advance novice painters. They have both been exceptional for completely different reasons. I will need to read Figopedia again to truly retain the knowledge it contains, but I walked away understanding significantly more about light and color theory. Tommie Soule does a great job of walking step-by-step through lots of things I’ve ignored over the past several years of painting. He also does a great job encouraging you to play, not stress.
A Year in Review.
Even though I missed participating in the last few months, 2024 has probably been one of the most successful hobby years I’ve ever had. Let’s recall what got accomplished this year.
I arbitrated my first ever Necromunda campaign and played in another!
Joined a Pathfinder Campaign! And ran a 3-session Super Hero adventure
6 Escher styled after various Batman Villains
Necromunda bases for said Escher
Dipped my toe into Comic Book Style
1 Chaos Chosen Ogre painted almost entirely through glazing
1 Blood Bowl Dwarf Team
1 Blood Bowl Chaos Dwarf Team
1 repainted Blood Bowl Halfling Team
Assembled several MDF kits for Necromunda
Assembled Ork Kommandos for Kill Team
Assembled Angels of Death for Kill Team
Assembled Hernkyn Yaegirs for Kill Team + Necromunda
When you look at what the other Warlords have done, this list seems pretty paltry. However, this is probably the most engaged I’ve been with my hobby since moving to Virginia 5 years ago. Much of that comes down to the wonderful community of gamers I’ve surrounded myself with. It’s been wonderful to hang out here, with the other Warlords, and grow into a fledgling painter.
The Good
My two favorite projects this year were the Chaos Chosen Ogre and the Halfling Team. The Ogre is the only model I “finished” all year, meaning I varnished him with no intent to ever adjust him again. I wasn’t able to get the Halfling Treemen where I wanted them, but those Halflings popped during that whole tournament. It didn’t hurt that I went undefeated either! 😀
I’ve also gotten much better at playing while I paint. When I just decide to work on a model and try something new (instead of rushing towards a deadline) I end up really enjoying myself. My skills have definitely improved because of this.
The Bad
I still struggle to find time to finish my models. I’m able to basecoat fairly well and provide some interest around the model, but I rarely have time to highlight a model to the point I call it finished. Out of all those dwarves I painted for Blood Bowl, I think 2 are actually done. That doesn’t even include their bases (see below)!
Thankfully, I’ve come a long way with regards to highlighting. I used to be scared to even attempt. Now I’m willing to do it and just see what happens and learn along the way.
The Ugly
I am bad at working on bases! Those two or three Necromunda bases are the best I’ve ever done. I am barely finishing the models, let alone spending any time on the bases. However, I have started keeping my models separate from the bases so that I can more easily access hard to reach spots on the model. That’s some progress right?
Next Year!
Another Necromunda campaign is in the works. Hopefully it’ll be done in Mid-January. I might even share it here if Jerry lets me! And with that, I want to thank all the other Warlords for their support over the year and for letting me bask in their greatness.
Special thanks to Jerry for being so enthusiastic about my participation and always working to keep us all on task!
Happy New Year!
Mike P. Painting My Empire Army for Adepticon: 12 Weeks, 102 Models, and a Dream
With 12 weeks left until Adepticon, I’m staring down a monumental challenge: painting 102 Empire models to complete my army. Thankfully, my general on griffon is already done, and he’s looking fantastic—he’s the centerpiece of the force, and I’m using him as the visual anchor for the rest of the army. Now, it’s all about getting the rest of the troops ready in time for the big event.
Week-by-Week Strategy
I’ve broken this project into manageable chunks: about 9 models per week. It’s still ambitious, but it’s doable if I stick to a plan. My approach is to focus on one unit or type of model at a time. Here’s how I’m structuring it:
1. Core Troops First: I’m starting with the infantry. They’re the backbone of the Empire, and getting those blocks of state troops painted will give me a sense of progress early on. I’m batch painting them, working in groups of 10 to 15 models to keep the momentum going.
2. Special Units and Heroes: Once the bulk of the infantry is done, I’ll move on to the knights, artillery, and their crews. These models have a bit more detail, so I plan to give them some extra attention. After that, I’ll tackle the heroes and other supporting characters, which will be fun because they let me experiment with more intricate techniques.
3. Final Touches: The last few weeks will be all about basing, finishing details, and making sure everything looks cohesive.
Staying Consistent
My general on griffon has set the standard for my army’s color scheme: rich reds, deep blues, and gold accents inspired by Altdorf. I’ve painted a couple of test models for the infantry to make sure the scheme translates well across the army. The key is to keep things consistent while still adding variety with unit markings, banners, and other small details.
Weekly Workflow
Here’s what a typical week looks like for me:
• Monday-Wednesday: Prime and base coat the models. I’m keeping it simple with a black primer and working up from there.
• Thursday-Friday: Apply washes and highlights. This is where the models really start to come to life.
• Saturday-Sunday: Focus on the details—faces, weapon hilts, feathers, and any other bits that make the models pop.
The Challenge and the Fun
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed looking at the sheer number of models left to paint, but breaking it down into smaller goals keeps me motivated. I also remind myself why I’m doing this: to field an incredible-looking army at Adepticon. Seeing the blocks of troops come together and imagining them charging into battle makes the effort worth it.
Looking Ahead
I know the last few weeks will be intense, but I’m already planning for that final push. Once the army is done, I’ll add some finishing touches—like weathering and flocking the bases—to tie everything together. If I have time, I’d love to create a display board to really show off the army.
There’s a lot of work ahead, but I’m enjoying the process. Every painted model is a step closer to the goal, and I can’t wait to see my Empire army in action at Adepticon.
Another month done, I can’t believe we’re already through November, how the year has flown by…. But even as the days get shorter, our diligent hobbyists keep working. While this month’s article is a shorter one, I think you’ll be impressed by the work completed nonetheless!
Kevin C.
On to my third act for the year… my Rohirrim, which I have had sitting on my shelf for about a year. They aren’t the worst offender in my queue; I still haven’t finished my pre-Primaris Deathwatch, which have sat unfinished since 2016. Even still, with the new edition of Lord of the Rings coming down the pike, and all of my Necromunda buddies having played it and enjoyed it, I figured I should get in on the action. And I refuse to play with unpainted miniatures, so…
Riders of Rohan
My main source for instruction on painting the Riders was the Duncan Rhodes tutorial. He does a great job with setting the stage for one method of painting the Rohan riders, that I then used to experiment with in variations in later iterations. For most of the elements on the rider, he uses a base, wash, rebase, highlight method, and I replicated that method.
For the cloak and the shield edges, I used Castellan Green, Agrax Earthshade, Castellan Green, and highlight of Loren Green.
The red cloth underneath was Khorne Red, Agrax Earthshade, Khorne Red, and Wazdakka Red.
The trousers, sleeves, and helmet were Doombull Brown, Agrax Earthshade (noting a pattern here?), Doombull Brown, and Skrag Brown. The contrast between these last two coats was a bit too stark, but seeing as how the bits were small, I think I was able to get away with it.
At this point, I should note that, since most everything was a wash of Agrax Earthshade, I obviously started with a base on everything, washed almost everything (except the face and hair) and then brought them back up to base color, and then did the edge highlight. The rebasing and highlight got rid of much of the shine from the wash, but if you don’t rebase your models after the wash, you will definitely need to Matte Varnish them, or else they will have a weird shine to them, like so.
The white emblem on the shields, I went with a consistent Rakarth Flesh, Agrax Earthshade, Rakarth Flesh, and highlight of Pallid Wych Flesh. This proved pretty difficult near the end, as there is not a truly defined edge to the emblem, so many of the later emblems became sloppy.
The metals were Iron Hands Steel and Retributor Armor, both washed with Agrax Earthshade, and highlighted with Stormhost Silver and Liberator Gold respectively. I decided not to go with Chrome on these miniatures. While I love Chrome, and it makes everything pop, I felt as though it would’ve taken away from the more earthy tones of the Rohirrim. Maybe if/when I do Minas Tirith…
Finally, the skin (what little can be seen) was Bugman’s Glow, Reikland Fleshshade, Cadian Fleshtone, and Kislev Fleshtone. The hair was Zandri Dust, Seraphim Sepia, then Ushabti Bone. While I usually try to do multiple fleshtones and hair colors with other miniatures, I felt that there was enough variation in the miniatures that I kept them all blond and pale-skinned. Rohan is not necessarily known for being a diverse cosmopolitan place.
The horses I based in Mournfang Brown, and then washed in Agrax Earthshade. I then brought up the highlights from Mournfang, to 50/50 Mournfang and Skrag Brown, and finally an edge highlight of Skrag Brown. While Duncan does a wash for the mane and tail, I decided to use a Contrast of Wyldwood, to get a darker, richer contrast (no pun intended) across the mount.
The socks on the hooves were an interesting project, and one I’ve never done. I started with a 50/50 mix of Skrag Brown and Rakarth Flesh, then a highlight of Rakarth Flesh, and finally an “edge” highlight (mostly at the ankle) of Pallid Wych Flesh. I think the socks turned out great, and I replicated them across the entire set.
At this point, I should note that these were much harder to paint than I’ve done for a while, as unlike most of the 40K/Fantasy stuff I’ve been painting recently, these are true scale. I’ve painted true scale before, namely Infinity, but I find that I often have to give up on painting detail on the faces. Thankfully, most the of the faces here are taken up by either helmet or beard, but it is something that annoys me.
More Riders of Rohan
Now that I had my first set of 12 finished, I continued on to my next set of 24. Absolutely no variation in the posture of the miniatures, so I had to settle on varying something else. So I chose different horse colors…
For many of these recipes, I used the painting tutorial that I found here:
I didn’t do black or white horses, for separate reasons. I plan to keep white horses for my heroes – Theoden, Eowyn, Hama, and Haleth. And I don’t like doing black horses as they tend to look too dark and monochromatic on the field. So, for the basic riders, I went with dark brown, tan, grey, and spotted.
I also didn’t want painted horses (much to my wife’s chagrin, as she owns a painted horse), namely because that screams Mustang to me, which is an American breed. Rohan, being based on Anglo-Saxon England, didn’t seem like a natural fit for painted horses.
The paint recipes, while they ended up working, didn’t work quite as well as Duncan Rhodes’ methods. Some of the color transitions, especially with the lighter colored horses, were too stark for my tastes. Still, they diversified the colors of the army, so I’m pleased with how they turned out.
Final Result
Well, I’ve been told by Austin that 36 Riders of Rohan is more than a Rohan player will ever need. For a Bretonnian player, 36 cavalry seems a bit small, but I will take his word for that.
Not quite Pelennor Fields level of cavalry (I’d need 5,964 more horses for that, apparently), but this will get me through a few games.
Next month, I plan to paint my Warriors of Rohan (dismounted) and the heroes I have currently, Theoden, Eowyn, and Merry. Finally, the boxed set should arrive in the middle of the month, so it is possible that I can get those miniatures assembled and painted before the end of the year is out, thus completing THREE armies in one year.
Jerry S.
Kevin’s progress this month a tough act to follow wow! I’m incredibly impressed by his conviction and ability to finish the projects he starts!
On my side, I had a pretty prolific month myself! Even with a week away due to the Thanksgiving holiday, I was still able to finish almost 50 models!
In the true wargaming tradition, Instead of finishing either of the 3 projects I’m currently working on (Solar Auxilia, Tomb Kings, or Arnor/Angmar for Middle Earth SPG) I started a brand new one at the end of September. As I hinted at last month, that new project was a reinforced platoon of American GI’s in winter clothing from Warlord Games for their brand new Bolt Action 3.0!
A little background on that, I grew up watching old war movies with my dad, The Great Escape, Von Ryan’s Express, A Bridge Too Far, the list goes on and on. I always loved these movies, the overexaggerated good guys and bad guys, corny action scenes, these movies hold a very special place in my heart.
I’ve always had my eye on Bolt Action, the game really pulls on those Hollywood WW2 themes from the old movies and the models are all overexaggerated and cartoony, just the way I like them. I’ve actually started 3 Bolt Action armies over the years, picking up Germans, Soviets, and Americans in the past, picking them up and then putting them down and selling them one by one. This time was different though, the new ruleset provided a great jumping off point and the absolutely awesome American Winter Infantry kit that came out in September was the perfect opportunity to jump into the game once more!
And Jump in I did! I picked up the new Battle of the Bulge starter set, a Sherman tank, another 30 infantrymen, and a whole plethora of support weapons. This gave me a sold 70 infantry as well as 2 vehicles to support them
This month, I managed paint the 30 infantry I had assembled in October, as well as a few of the weapons team I picked up. While I haven’t finished the basing on all of the models (darn you Amazon and your slow snow deliveries) I was able to lock down exactly how I wanted to base these guys. A sparse snow covering with some foliage and grass poking out of the snow. This gave the bases the look of a snow covered forest floor, perfect for any battlefield in the Winter of 1944/45 or for the snow-covered alpine peaks of Italy.
With this batch done, I got cracking on assembling the second wave of infantry, their heavier support weapons and then the much needed vehicle support!
Returning to the Old World
Switching back to one of the projects that y’all have seen quite a bit of this year, I dusted off my Old World army of 2024 and finished the last 10 Skeletons from the Tomb Kings Battalion I bought to begin the year!
I still love painting these Skeletons, even after finishing over 100 total this year so far! This last block of 10 is the last group of Skeleton Warriors/Archers I need for the 2000 Point Tomb King army I’ve been working on this year and as you can see below, the completed Skeletons look a formidable sight on the battlefield.
Now that the basic infantry is done, I can finally start the fun stuff. I’ve got a whole group of Stalkers, Scorpions, and Ushabti to get painted up and ready to defend the lands of Khemri! I guess I should even paint up one of those “Tomb Kings” that everybody has been talking about…Even the undead need a leader after all.
Before we move onto the last batch of models I worked on this week, I couldn’t let you leave before showing you the fearsome Necrosphinx I finished constructing this month.
News from the Kingdom of Arnor
Some of you readers may know this already but I got my start in wargaming way back in the early naughts with the release of the Lord of the Rings Strategy Battlegame. This game has always been my bread and butter, and while I took a break for a a year or so, the announcement of the new edition has brought me fully back.
I’ve been working on a middle earth gaming board the past few months, and an nice Arnor army to battle on it as you’ll see in the past few articles. I was able to continue this progress this month with a force of 6 Arnor Knights and a captain to lead them.
I wasn’t able to finish these brave defenders of Arnor this month but I imagine I’ll finish these in the first week of this month. Ready in time for the new Edition on 12/14!
Speaking of both next month and the new edition, I’ve got some huge plans for next year to go along with the new edition! I don’t have much in the way of details quite yet but I hope to share some more information next month!
My Journey of Painting Empire and Hobbit Miniatures
Over the past few months, I’ve been diving into the world of painting miniatures for Warhammer: The Old World and the Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game, focusing on Empire and Hobbit models. This journey has been both challenging and rewarding, allowing me to combine my love for gaming with creative expression.
Painting the Empire
The Empire has always fascinated me with its blend of medieval aesthetics and vibrant color schemes. Painting these miniatures was an exciting project, and I wanted to capture the essence of these noble warriors through the following techniques:
-Classic Colors and Detailing: I started with the Empire’s signature reds and whites, using these bold colors to paint the uniforms and shields. To add realism, I incorporated metallic paints and experimented with techniques to achieve a metallic sheen on their armor.
-Intricate Heraldry: One of the most enjoyable parts was painting the intricate heraldry and banners. I used fine brushes to add tiny details to the crests, which required patience but significantly enhanced the models’ appearance.
– **Bases and Terrain:** To complement the miniatures, I crafted bases that mirrored the landscapes of the Empire. I added textures like cobblestones and grass tufts to create a sense of battle-worn terrain, making the models look like they were standing in the midst of a skirmish.
Painting Hobbits
Painting Hobbit miniatures for the **Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game** was an entirely different experience. Hobbits are characterized by their simplicity and charm, which I aimed to capture in my painting.
-Earthy Tones and Subtle Shading: I used earthy colors like browns, greens, and muted reds to paint their clothing, ensuring the tones were warm and inviting. For shading, I employed washes to add depth to their small cloaks and tunics, highlighting the folds and creases.
Community and Learning Resources
Throughout this journey, I’ve leaned heavily on the painting community for inspiration and advice. YouTube tutorials from channels like “Warhammer TV” provided step-by-step guides that helped refine my skills. Social media platforms like Instagram offered a space to share my progress and gather feedback from fellow enthusiasts, while local hobby workshops and competitions fueled my passion by connecting me with like-minded individuals.
Conclusion
Focusing on Empire and Hobbit miniatures has been a delightful artistic adventure. Whether it’s the disciplined soldiers of the Empire or the endearing Hobbits of the Shire, each miniature tells a story, and painting them has deepened my connection to these fascinating worlds. As I continue to hone my techniques, I look forward to exploring even more characters and bringing them to life with my own artistic touch.
Jerry S.
Wow July was a fun month. The oppressive heat of the southern summer, and a quick bout with Covid put a pin in my outdoor activities and forced me to spend most of my free time indoors. I aimed to take maximum advantage of my situation by painting as much as possible!
Painting in the Age of Darkness
With NOVA looming in the near future, my #1 priority this month has been getting my Thunderhawk ready for the tabletop. Every NOVA, myself and a couple friends play in the Horus Heresy megabattle that is hosted on Saturday evening. Its typically the only chance we have to bring out our truly titanic(pun intended) warmachines and this year Mike P. and I are hoping to reveal our super heavy fliers to the world. To do that though, I need to finish painting mine!
I made some great progress on the massive bird, airbrushing all of the blue and white panels then tackling the majority of the metallics with the brush.
I’m not 100% happy with the way the paneling as turned out. I was hoping there would be a little more visual interest but I have yet to shade and highlight so that will hopefully help. stay tuned and if everything goes right, I will have a completed thunderhawk ready for the next update!
The thunderhawk has been just eating my painting time this month but I managed to step away for a couple hours and painted up the new Hibou Khan that was released earlier this summer.
Hibou Khan
I am very pleased with how this model turned out. As many of you know, white is a famously difficult color to get right and I went back and forth for months on how I would be painting my White Scars. The process I settled on seems to be exactly what I was hoping for as it allows me to paint a crisp white and then dirty it down. This really sells the effect of a polished white armor that has been well used.
One more step in the Old World
Moving away from Horus Heresy, I was also able to paint yet another block of skeletons for my tomb kings. This time they are equipped with bows instead of spears though! Very exciting. I’ve got 1 last block of 10 skeleton archers to paint before the year closes but I hope to paint some of the more esoteric units that the Tomb Kings can call upon in the next couple months.
A Return to Middle Earth
To close the month out, I want to share a special teaser for a project that I’m hoping to work on as the year ends.
I’ve always loved the kingdoms of men in The Lord of The Rings, the men of Gondor especially. The recent slow drip of reveals from games workshop has fully awoken something inside of me and I had the uncontrollable urge to paint some Middle Earth models ahead of the Fall of Arnor book coming later this year.
I have some really big plans for this book, my 3d printer is running and the long neglected Arnor models in my cupboard are stirring…. But this may be for a later update. For now, here is a test model for my soon to be Army of Arnor.
Kevin C.
Well, gonna brag here a bit… I was very productive this month. I am well on my way to having at least two armies fully completed by the end of the year (possibly even three – more on that later). These are armies that did not even have a single miniature painted or assembled a year ago.
But first, Blood Bowl.
(My Very Own) Halfling Blood Bowl Team
Last month, I painted up someone else’s Halfling Blood Bowl Team. I was unsure how the paint scheme was going to look, but I ended up being quite pleased with it, so I copied it for myself.
I decided to put them on smaller bases, being wee men. I’m not sure if I like the decision to be honest, as the flock static grass I use for most of my Blood Bowl teams seems a bit crowded on these bases where they didn’t on the larger bases. Something to keep in mind for some of the smaller bases in the future.
You can really see the grass crowding with my MVP for this team… the bloodthirsty Akhorne. Still, I’m glad I have this miniature finished.
Dracosans to Complete My Solar Auxilia
So, Dracosans were released by GW a few weeks ago, but I already had printed off 19 third-party miniatures, so I figured I’d paint those guys up rather than needing to buy more kits. I think the third-party miniatures ended up working great, as long as I keep them right side up.
The printer did not do a very good job with the bottom side of the tanks, however, so I gave almost no attention to the bottom. They proved very difficult to paint, so I didn’t even bother. Still, better than the Rogal Dorn coming in without a bottom plate (que ribbing Jerry…)
And, with the Dracosans done, that completes this stage of my Legions Imperialis Army. I do plan on painting up my Titans later this year, but here are my Vostroyans in all their glory.
I will be bringing a portion of these guys to NOVA, so we will see how they do.
Bretonnian Archers
My final task of this month was to complete my Bretonnian Archers. This was the first time I painted peasants for the Bretonnian army, so I wanted to make sure they were plenty dirty, muddy, and rustic.
A lot of paint schemes I have seen online, including the video tutorial I watched by Duncan Rhodes, have the peasants wearing the livery of the army. However, I wanted to keep these guys in a consistent color of browns, greys, and greens – colors that were absent from my knights. I am hopeful that the Archers (and eventually the Men at Arms) will be so contrasted with the knights that the difference in status will be apparent on the table top.
It looks like I will finish my Men at Arms next month, and thus the entirety of my Bretonnian starter set before NOVA. Granted, I am not bringing them to NOVA (yet) but I will be delighted to finish such a goal that I set out for myself.
I have even finished all of the shields, which I painted separately. I believe painting them separate from the bodies is the only way to go, and I’m glad I had that foresight. I knew I wanted to colors of old Couronne (red and blue quartered), but I am unsure whether I will add a sigil to the heraldry.
I will take a full army picture when the Men at Arms are complete. Until then, take care!
Joe R.
Here we are again! I had initially thought my contributions would be fairly limited this month, but I had forgotten some non-painting activities that surely count!
Five Parsecs from Home – Prep 5PFH is a solo sci-fi wargame campaign experience written by Nordic Weasel Games and produced by Modiphius. It’s miniature agnostic and I have a ton of sci-fi minis! However, I started my own campaign roughly a year ago and have done very little to advance the story. I had no terrain! So, after a year of collecting and printing terrain I’m finally ready to get things rolling again. I’ve assigned minis to each member of my tramp freighter crew and plan to begin running adventures and painting the miniatures in the coming months. Thanks Necromunda for giving me everything I could ever hope for to play in a sci-fi world!
Like all good science fiction there are a suite of alien races. Titan Forge Games released STL files specifically for 5PFH which includes some of these aliens. I printed myself an Engineer (a race in this particular setting) to represent my own Engineer, E’Loo. However, I didn’t like their model for the war-like race called the K’Erin. Lots of folks use 40K Orks for this, but I wanted to use Eldar instead. I had received a box of Corsair Voidscarred at NOVA Open one year, but never built them. I also have the Striking Scorpions from the Kill Team: Salvation box. This leads to my next project…
Kill Team –Corsair Voidscarred I finally assembled these models! Talk about a task. This was maybe the most complicated set of GW models I’ve ever worked on. I’m used to Necromunda and Blood Bowl where you basically get duplicates of the same sprue. The Corsairs come with 3 unique sprues that are not organized in any fashion (as far as I could tell). It was something like 160 pieces.
I chose to make the following agents: Voidscarred Felarch (magnetized with a neuro disruptor or shuriken rifle), Voidscarred Gunner w/ blaster, Voidscarred Heavy Gunner w/ wraithcannon, Voidscarred Starstorm Duellist, Voidscarred Kurnite Hunter, Voidscarred Shade Runner, Voidscarred Kurnathi, Voidscarred Fate Dealer, Voidscarred Way Seeker, and Voidscarred Soul Weaver. This was mostly chosen as “rule of cool”, but I did find some recommendations online. I have so many bits left over that I might purchase some additional bodies on Ebay and make a couple standard warriors as substitutions (as someone else suggested). Aside from being the toughest models I’ve assembled (so far), I also took care to smooth out sprue connection points and remove mold lines. This is new for me. I traditionally feel victorious having assembled the models. I don’t usually take the time to make them look good.
I selected the Voidscarred Kurnathi to be Ki Starvoid, my K’Erin. I printed out some additional industrial bases which I will paint in a Necromunda style (as seen in my first article). I’ll get Ki primed in the next week or so and blue tac him to his base until I’m ready to paint him in earnest.
Blood Bowl – The Wynnstaadt Warriors I – Dwarf Team I continued to work on my Dwarf team this month. I’ve been playing games with them in my local Blood Bowl league while also trying to paint them. They were cast by a 3rd party Blood Bowl provider a ways back and I started noticing a few problems. I won’t go into heavy detail but kept having pieces fall off in the middle of my games. Some of these pieces, like the helmet wings shown below, has been an ongoing thorn in my side. So, I decided to try and pin them.
This was a pain in the ass. I had read recently to avoid using paper clips (my go to at this point) and try something softer. One suggestion was to use solder. I really liked using solder because it was much easier to clean at the end due to its softness. However, I’ve purchased some aluminum wire for future efforts.
I absolutely destroyed these helmet wings. As you can see, I’ve had to use green stuff to clean up spots where the drill removed entire parts of the wing. However, when painted, you can’t really tell the difference. Hopefully, the wings won’t be falling off anytime soon. HOWEVER, I dropped one of the blitzers while trying to drill his helmet for the pin. His hand popped off and ended up getting pretty mashed out of shape. As did his helmet. So, I decided I was done with these models and went in search of a new Dwarf team.
Blood Bowl – The Wynnstaadt Warriors II – Dwarf Team I had purchased the metal team above because 1) no one I knew had those models and 2)I liked the aesthetic. At the time, EVERYONE had the GW 3rd edition Blood Bowl team. I own the current GW Dwarf team, but again, everyone is using it. I wanted something different. I searched through a few teams until I decided on Torchlight Miniatures Sewer Guard. These dwarves have a very constable-esque vibe that I thought would be pleasant to paint. The positionals have a very steam-punk vibe, which I liked less, but oh well. It was cool.
I printed a few test models and realized these Dwarves were HUGE. They rivaled my Chaos Chosen Blockers! So, I shrunk them down to 90% and decided to try a new resin I’d been saving: Siraya Tech FAST Smokey Black. I usually use ST FAST Grey, which is a great resin but the pigment separates from the resin over time. If I don’t print for a couple of days, I end up spending a bunch of time resuspending the pigment. Smokey Black is clear resin with a dye added. Dyes are soluble in their medium, meaning they don’t separate. I can leave this resin sitting and it’s ready to go whenever I’m ready. It also looks incredibly cool! I think I’ll be sticking with this moving forward.
The models are still big, but more in line with the GW dwarves (~33 mm from foot to head). They definitely warrant 32mm bases. I primed a few and went about blocking my scheme on a test model. You can see the test model below.
I originally had more gold sprinkled about the model (specifically on the helm), but my wife convinced me to keep the gold for the fabrics and use silver for any metal. I tried it out and agreed (though I kept the center of the belt gold because… reasons?). This also marks one of the first times I’ve tried to paint a model without attaching it to a base. As you can see, he’s just blue tac’d. It was amazing to pick the model up and get to some of those hard-to-reach places! Again, this will probably be standard moving forward. I worked on the test model for another couple hours and ended roughly here.
I was generally pretty pleased. Some of the green highlights were too bright, so I took my midtone and glazed them back down. I think it helped, but I didn’t capture a picture of it. I’ve since started blocking another Dwarf. The hope is to have 12 models done by the Atlantic Coast Charity Cup. It might be a challenge, but I’m going to try my best!
Another month, another Blood Bowl post, and guess what? It’s Gnomes again! I showed off the start of my actual Gnome team last month, and now I have the full team done! There’s still several associated Star Players I want (or need) to finish still, but the actual team is complete!
This team was a blast to paint. Lots of fun. The Treemen and various animals in particular were rather enjoyable, as they offered something different to break up the monotonous red tones of the team. I am very happy with how they turned out as a whole though. I hadn’t figured that red on red would work for a scheme, but I wanted to try it after seeing a painting (of a Gnome, by the way) with a similar outfit. And now you can see the Poppin’ Daisies (yes, that’s my team name) in all their glory!
Atop the actual team itself, I was able to complete Rodney Roachbait for use as a Star Player with them. He was also a nice change of pace since, again, he features more colors than red! That said, this model was surprisingly detailed and took longer than I had expected to get him done. I had planned to paint several other things alongside him during one evening, yet he ended up taking up the whole session by himself!
As said above, I still have several Star Players to get to before I can truly call this team done. At least for those I actually have, there’s still Rumbelow Sheepskin and Griff Oberwald to get painted up, the former of which I’ll be completing this week in preparation for the Goonhammer Open’s Swelter Bowl. I’ll be bringing the Gnomes and their ram-riding fellow along to battle the heat and the other contestants for sweaty glory! I don’t expect to win much, but it should be a fun time at least. So you can expect to see Rumbelow at least in terms of Blood Bowl content next month, perhaps alongside some other stuff as I still work my way to NOVA!
Long Live The Empire!
Alongside the Gnomes, and also in preparation for the Goonhammer Open, I have been hurriedly painting my way through my Shatterpoint backlog, in some vain attempt to catch up to the steady stream of releases. Given that the Goonhammer Open decided on the Premiere format for their event, my attention has shifted rather considerably over to the Imperial forces I have been mustering (given they actually have enough units out to make a decent Premiere list). And so I have been making my way through the mostly black-clad Imperial forces, making good on the knowledge gained from last month’s painting of the Fifth Brother. Given my general dissatisfaction with the final result on him, I revised my approach to black armor, and these are the results of that:
Starting us off we’ve got Iden Versio and her Inferno Squad, as well as some generic Imperial Special Forces, and a Death Trooper Escort! Just as I said last month, I went with a starker blue-grey for the cloths in order to separate them from the now more sheer black armor paneling. This is far less apparent on the Death Trooper escort, but it’s certainly visible on the rest of them above. This helped a ton in breaking things up and making the models far more readable. But these elite forces weren’t the only additions to my completed pile… That Death Trooper escorts someone, doesn’t he?
Yes, Moff Gideon! Not to be confused with Gideon Hask of Inferno Squad above! This one shows off the new cloth and armor techniques perhaps the best, with the new cloth color being very visible against the armor panels, and the bright highlights helping make the armor pop. But what I am really most happy with is the Darksaber. It was rather enjoyable and surprisingly easy to get that edge gleam to work. And interestingly, it’s using many of the same colors used for both the armor and the cloth. Still, there’s one more of the Emperor’s servants that I got completed. The most infamous of them all!
Darth Vader! Specifically, the one from the Duel pack, most commonly referred to as Vader1 by the community (due to the fact that the Duel pack released before the “Fear and Dead Men” squad pack). This is definitely my favorite between the two sculpts of Vader in this game. The pose is fantastic. The way the cloak billows is very well executed. It was such a joy to paint, even though it was mostly the same 6 paints being used over and over again. It was a very nice model to end the month on, but it isn’t the last of the Imperials I still have to do! At least in preparation for the Goonhammer Open, I still need to finish painting the Grand Inquisitor and the Third Sister. If I have the time, I plan to repaint the Fifth Brother to match with my new methods as well. Beyond that, I still have two Dark Troopers, the Fourth Sister, and the other Vader to polish off my Imperial forces (at least until Thrawn and his crew get released in August). My Rebels are even further behind on progress, especially with the Ghost crew releasing in just a week! I’m hoping to catch up on Shatterpoint within the next month or few, so I can be on top of the releases moving forward. Though continued NOVA prep and other distractions may hamper those plans in the short term.That’s it for me for this month. I hope to have even more exciting things to show you all next month, and perhaps even a super surprise!
Kevin C.
Bretonnian Duke on Royal Pegasus
Have I mentioned yet how much I hate this miniature?
I ended up salvaging the look of the model, namely by using a great video of how to paint most of the parts from Duncan Rhodes (only available to subscribers, sadly). I probably should have left the wings off prior to painting, as so many of the pieces and parts were really hard to reach. I was going to do a decal heraldry, but I chose against it, since there is only a place on the shield for the heraldry.
With the Duke complete, all of my knights are finished, and all that I have left are the filthy peasants. More to come next month, hopefully!
Legions Imperialis Tanks and Aircraft
I was finally able to procure some much-needed air support for my Vostroyans. As much as I hate the infantry for Legions Imperialis, the planes and tanks have been mostly delightful to build and straightforward to paint. It is unfortunate that I have not yet figured out how to play well with them.
I still have the Dracosans to paint to complete my Vostroyan Expeditionary Force, so they will have to wait until next month.
Blood Bowl Project
So, I mentioned that I have a Halfling BB Team on the backburner a few months ago, and Friend of the Blog asked, “Hey, while you are working on your Halfling BB Team, can you work on mine also?” So, I used his team as test cases for a paint scheme.
In the whole, I like the scheme and I plan to use it for my own team. This was the first time doing NMM techniques for rusted metal (on the pots, pans, and plates) and I think it looks good. I will probably replicate this for my own team, which I will show next month.
For the overall scheme, I used the tutorial provided by The Putrid Painter.
In addition, I was able to get the treemen done for both Friend of the Blog as well as my own Halfling team. Three Halfling treemen, and one gnarly looking Gnome treeman, ready to hit the pitch.
I don’t know if I’ll end up using any of his other tutorials in the future, since he seems to focus on Nurgle-ish themes (hence the name), and I don’t tend to go that way, but I appreciated the tutorials.
See you all next month, hopefully with some newly finished Bretonnian Archers!
Joe R.
Well, the astute of you might have noticed that my section of this monthly post was absent. Well, I spent the greater part of May getting my halflings ready for the Amorical Cup. Especially the last week of May, which is traditionally when I write this post! So I bailed to get things painted, still didn’t get everything painted, and went to Ottawa anyway!
The Moot Points – Halflings, Blood Bowl
Okay. The last we left off, I had shown off a near completed Bisque Batson (aka Shazam! Or the OG Captain Marvel for those in the know).
Bisque’s cape (not pictured here) is one of my favorite features of this mini. I also think the white and gold turned out especially good. Overall, he’s very vibrant on the table. The style is a little cartoony, but I think I’m okay with that! They’re based on comic book characters after all.
After doing the gold on Bisque, I was feeling confident enough to work on my favorite model on the whole team, Michael Jon Custard (aka Booster Gold). Back when the Halfling team only had two positionals (Treemen & Halflings), MJC was an all-star. Now that the Halflings have a few more positions, I decided to run MJC as one of my catchers.
Here is a picture of the original MJC. (I still did a VERY bad job taking before pictures. Just trust that all of these models started somewhere in this ballpark. This exercise has absolutely breathed new life into this team.
Not that long ago, I was very worried about highlighting and shading. I would basecoat a model, MAYBE throw a brown or black shade over the entire model and call it good. This model doesn’t even have a shade! Pretty sure this is Reaper New Gold and Tanned Flesh with Citadel Mordian Blue. Oh, and the basing is a coat of the extremely short lived GW texture paint Lustrian Undergrowth. He’s sat like this for years.
So I started out by recoating all the gold with GW Retributor Armor and applying a “glaze” of VMC Red-Violet into the recesses of the skin (like I’d done on the other two so far). Then I took a 1:1 mix of Agrax Earthshade and Acrylic Medium and washed the gold. Here’s how that went.
I started out by recoating all the gold with GW Retributor Armor and applying a “glaze” of VMC Red-Violet into the recesses of the skin (like I’d done on the other two so far). Then I took a 1:1 mix of Agrax Earthshade and Acrylic Medium and washed the gold. Here’s how that went.From here I started cleaning up the skin. I’ve found with these models that even if I mess up on other parts of the model (and I do!), having the skin develop provides a good distraction.
Here he is after some initial cleanup. Next up I used the Reaper Blue Triad (Sapphire Blue, True Blue, Sky Blue) to work on the shoulder pads and the pants. The shoulder pads turned out much nicer. Then I added some gold highlights with Auric Armor Gold and just a small amount of Stormhost Silver. Finally, he has a black eye (which you can barely make out in the picture above) so I mixed some Reaper Blue with VMC Red-Violet until I got something I liked. Oh! And I based Geek Gaming Scenics Spring sawdust grass. Here is the finished product.
Overall, very pleased. A fine British friend of mine suggested the basing could use some additional flair. I agree! However, that got pushed to the backburned for now.
Next up? Hal Gourdon (the Green Lantern)
Of all the Halflings I painted in preparation for this event, I’m the most disappointed with Hal. I used the Two Thin Coats green triad (Wyvern, Emerald, and Ethereal Greens). I’m very happy with my TTC paints overall, btw. You’ll be seeing that come up more with future models. However, I think I got scared to push the green highlights with Hal. I may go back and give him another go. However, I also used the TTC black triad (Doom Death Black, Death Reaper, and Dungeon Stone Grey) on the pants, and felt that went pretty well. I was also unsure how to paint his pouty lip. Open to advice here!
Poor Hal. He’s not even my favorite Green Lantern… I’ll hit you rapid fire with rest of the models.
Here is Berry Allen (the Flash). I was VERY pleased with this model. The VMC Red-Violet helped shade the reds, the yellows, and the skin! I also tried to glaze the brighter yellow on in a few layers (Reaper Sun Yellow over GW Averland Sunset). Reaper Sun Yellow is a garbage paint, but the glazing effect mostly worked out. I think I’ll be picking up a new bright yellow soon.This is Hank McSoy (aka The Beast). I painted him in the traditional yellow-blue scheme of the original X-Men, but I kept his hair blue as an homage to the modern version of Beast. Again, VMC Red-Violet did a bunch of work here to provide shadows for the skin, blues, and yellows. I didn’t usually run Hank because I didn’t think his paint job was very interesting, now I think he’s one of the most interesting on the table!This is Ted Korn (aka the 2nd Blue Beetle) and MJC’s best friend and partner in crime. It’s convenient that this ended up being my second favorite model in the whole bunch. Ted required a lot of work though. He was originally Teal and Sky Blue. After reviewing some of my favorite appearances of the Blue Beetle, I decided to go with a primarily Blue/Light Blue scheme. Teal does often show up on modern colorings of Ted, so I kept his cape (not really visible here) teal. I also painted his classic yellow goggles and even added a specular highlight! Huzzah! Growth! It was worth the repaint and he looks awesome sitting on the table.This is another model I am very proud of. Arthur Curry (aka Aquaman) tends to be one of my tougher halflings. I used my scheme from MJC for the gold and decided to push the TTC green highlights a little higher here. I also used a dark blue to shade the orange which turned out to be a big problem. I spent a lot of time correcting the saturation because the blue looked very unnatural.
Now we get into the problem children. The last three models took me forever to complete, largely because they needed to be completely repainted. Their original schemes just didn’t work with the vision I had in mid. Some of them turned out great, but others will be joining Hal in the “eh” category.
Unlike Steak Rogers (aka Captain America) I could not “do this all day”. I had decided that I wanted to do a different blue with this model to change things up. So I decided to use GW The Fang, Russ Grey, and Fenrisian Grey for a slightly desaturated look. I spent a lot of time fighting with those paints. Honestly? I think they’re just old. They’re from the initial relaunch of the Citadel paint line as GW paints. However, Steve did eventually come together, even though I’m still a little disappointed with the way the blue-grey came out.This is another of my favorite models, even if the paint job didn’t turn out exactly as planned. This is LoCal (aka Lobo) the dedicated fouler of the Moot Points. The sculpt of this model has a ton of character, and I’ve been using him for years to put the boot to downed opponents. He also required an entire repaint because the white skin preventing me from using while anywhere else on the model. I tried to differentiate blacks by using black with grey highlights on the helm and black with blue highlights for the leather. It kinda worked? The best thing about this whole model is that I got his moustache painted on. Oh, and the purple turned out good too.
The sculpt of this model has a ton of character, and I’ve been using him for years to put the boot to downed opponents.
Finally, in the 11th hour I realized I was a halfling short. So I picked the most painted halfling I had remaining and got him based coated. I introduce you to J’John J’Juice, the Martian Manhunter.
He’s green! He has almost no highlights. He was good enough! However, the shirt caused a real problem because I felt like there was too much blue all together. I eventually “solved” it by going with a darker blue. I might ultimately go back and make it black/grey just to keep things cleaner. Again, open to suggestions.
So, you might possibly be wondering how we did at Amorical. We did much better than we anticipated! I ended up going 3 Wins and 3 Ties with the halflings, landing me at 23rd out of 200 participants. I came in… 3rd (?) for the Stunty Cup. My team. DUBBL Trouble came in 9th overall (out of 50) and came in 2nd (!!!) for our low point team build. Overall, it was a great time!
Bonus! – Blood Bowl
I’ve continued to work on my Dwarf team (the Wynnstaat Warriors) from my first A Tale of Many Warlords. I’ve swapped to using the TTC green triad mentioned above. I’m still getting used to highlighting, but ever model has something that works. In this case, I was proud of the skin, helmet, and ball.
The wrinkles in the clothing, especially on the belly, were tough. I eventually got tired of messing with them and called this model good. I’m not sure how I’m going to base any of them. I’ll probably wait until the end to figure it out.
Also, as of writing, the Northern Virginia BB Tournament scene just closed out the 3rd annual Akhorne 8s. I was slotted as the odd player out (OPO), who plays if we have an uneven number of coaches in attendance. I ended up sitting out, but still got my Akhorne cleaned up just in case. I painted this little fellow for the 1st Akhorne 8s and felt he was the best thing I had ever painted at the time. I still think he’s very cute, but I touched up some places on the fur where the contrast paint didn’t take very well.
I based him today! I applied a layer of Stirland Mud, let that dry, and tried to selectively add my sawdust grass. I ended up covering most of the mud… oh well. Look at that white line though! I applied that by putting a thick, wet coat of TTC Trooper White on a tooth pick and pressing it firmly onto the base. My British friend remains unimpressed. Maybe a skull? Can you ever really please the British?
That’s it for me folks, expect more Blood Bowl each month. I’m on a quest paint the last 7 teams I haven’t played (dwarves, chaos dwarves, high elves, elven union, dark elves, and lizardmen) and get them played by the end of the year. Wish me luck!
Jerry S.
Happy July everybody! June was a great month for me in the hobby, even if I didn’t hit all of my goals. I started the month planning on having all of my Legions Imperialis infantry finished and the whole army built. I fell a little short of this, only finishing 10 stands of terminators and only partially completing the rest of the infantry.
In an effort to procrastinate painting my smaller infantry, I did get substantial painting done on my 28mm Solar Auxilia. Finishing 40 las rifles, 10 Velataris, and 3 ogryns. I continue to love painting these models. Even got a second game with them!
This is the first month this year that I did not finish any Old World models, a streak I do not intend to continue. Look forward to seeing some more skeletons, mummies and constructs in the coming months.
Lets start with the smallest models in my collection:
This scheme isn’t too laborious, a necessity when painting such large quantities of such small models.
Here are the completed terminators for my White Scars. This scheme isn’t too laborious, a necessity when painting such large quantities of such small models.
These were painted with a simple zenithal of white over light grey, with some Mephiston red trim, with black and metal details painted on, covered with an umber oil wash to call out more of the details.
Here is my whole Legions Army, assembled and primed. There is certainly something to be said about how cool these models look ranked up en mass. I look forward to seeing the completed army on the tabletop, even if I loath the painting process.
Moving onto bigger, better Heresy- I had a prolific month painting Solar Auxilia, finishing a full 40 Las Rifles, 10 of the elite Velataris, and 3 of the hulking Charonite Ogryns.
I love the look of these resin Lasriflemen but I have to admit, painting the new plastics is a much smoother process. Luckily I have another 20 of the plastics yet to build and paint. These Ogryns are absolutely brutal sculpts, and I mean that in the best way possible. They aren’t very good on the tabletop but they are absolutely fearsome on the painting table.
To start the month off, I watched the Lord of The Rings trilogy again… This, coupled with the upcoming supplement for Arnor and Angmar gave me an incredible urge to paint up some lord of the rings SPG models. Luckily I had the perfect trio of minis to paint up ahead of the new supplement…
The Witch King of Angmar!
I had the new plastics sitting in a cupboard along with the original Metal black rider model so I pulled out my brushes and gave these models a quick paintjob. I haven’t added flock to these just yet as I’m unsure if they will be joining my mordor army or my Angmar army. A decision that will likely wait until we have the new book in hand.
I’m very excited of July, a month without any work travel gives me great opportunity to get some hobbying done. I’m going to need every bit of that time if I plan on being prepared for NOVA as well. I have quite a bit of painting that still needs to be done ahead of my NOVA Events. I’ve listed the below things I need to finish to keep me honest!
Ultramarines
Paint my Thunderhawk and Base
build and paint 5 more Ultramarine Cataphractii Terminator
Stretch Goal: Paint Roboute Guilliman
Build and paint 20 Praetorian Breachers
Solar Auxilia
Paint my Solar Auxilia Command Squad
Paint 2 leman russes
Paint 1 Malcador
Build and paint 20 Companions
Build and paint 2 Auroxes
Its a long list, lets see if I can pull it out!
And that’s a wrap for this month’s hobby update! From finished Gnomes to ongoing Blood Bowl projects and Warhammer painting, we’ve seen a wide range of impressive work. Even though not all goals were met, the dedication and progress are truly inspiring. Can’t wait to see what next month’s updates will bring!
Remember to keep an eye out for more updates and surprises in the coming months! Happy hobbying, everyone!
The metals were Iron Hands Steel and Retributor Armor, both washed with Agrax Earthshade, and highlighted with Stormhost Silver and Liberator Gold respectively. I decided not to go with Chrome on these miniatures. While I love Chrome, and it makes everything pop, I felt as though it would’ve taken away from the more earthy tones of the Rohirrim. Maybe if/when I do Minas Tirith…
HowdyHammer 
Leave a comment