My Painting and Modelling

All fo the miniatures in these posts belong to John Ashton and Heresy & Heroes. So enjoy them! I enjoyed painting them all.

The Jagged Aggressors – Goliath Gangers

Posted by johnnya10 on 04/12/2017
Posted in: My Painting and Modelling. Tagged: , . 5 Comments

goliath gangers necromunda

My Goliath Gang for Necromunda is up and running, and the first three gangers are done. Say hello to Hulkras, Smargrill and Porgsmash of the Jagged Aggressors. Their names come straight from my name generator, and while I’m not the biggest fan of “Porgsmash”, I’ll stick to them for the rest of the project. Let’s take a closer look-see.

Being Goliath, and having a name like Jagged Aggressors, I wanted these guys to have a thoroughly utilitarian, industrial feel to them. Therefore, the colours are browns and greys, and there’s plenty of weathering too. In fact, their rusted armour reflects the rusted walkways that they’re standing on – as it was Goliaths that probably made those walkways in the first place.

goliath ganger with grenade launcher and brute cleaver

Smargrill is the specialist of the gang and the first guy that I painted. He’s wielding that lovely grenade launcher and a brute cleaver – I really think it’s key for each Goliath to have a good close combat option as that’s where their strength really lies, but they need brutal ranged weapons to help get them there. It’s an important balance to get right. I’m really happy with the worn leather look on the trousers of all of these minis, and it was really fun to go a bit more over-the-top with the rust and verdigris. Normally I have to be quite restrained with the rust but with this lot, I let the paint brush have some fun.

goliath ganger with spud jacker

Hulkras is next up, and his Spud Jacker shows how far I went with the rusting and weathering. I figured the Goliaths would put older tools to work as weapons as newer, better kept kit would be needed in the foundries. It’s a great looking bit though – GW did a great job with that. And in the top picture, you can see he has the jagged whitish line on his leg plate. This is the symbol of the gang, but I didn’t want to overuse it – these guys are all function first, and fancy details a distant second.

goliath ganger with stubber

And here we have Porgsmash. If you think the gun looks a little bit different, that’s because it’s from the Ork grot kit. Turns out Goliaths and grots have a pretty similar taste in firearms. Actually, the one criticism I’d have of these kits is that the options don’t give you quite enough flexibility. Some weapons only appear on left hands, others on right hands. A bit limiting if you’re not too comfortable converting things. But other than that, it’s a cracking set of sprues and I’m loving this project.

goliath

Those are my gangers. Initially, I’m just building a six man gang as they’ll be going into a campaign in the new year, and I want to have options further down the line, especially if Forge World are going to be releasing some weapons sprues later on. Also, I want to get on to those Escher ladies at some point in the not too distant future.

Next up for me will be my Champions so expect those as the next painted pieces from me. I hope you enjoyed checking this lot out. Oh, and I should say that I tried the rainbow mohawk look for them, but it didn’t quite suit, whereas the red hair looks a lot better. But that’s enough from me. I hope you’re enjoying your painting as much as I am enjoying mine. Onwards!

Slaaneshi Pack Mule – The Deviant Dark Mech Steed

Posted by johnnya10 on 22/11/2017
Posted in: My Painting and Modelling. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

slaanesh seeker conversion

What’s a Slaaneshi Dark Mech Magos to do when he’s hunting for parts and archeotech in the depths of the Underhive and doesn’t want to carry everything himself? Well, he could summon a daemonic steed, trap it in the mortal realm, and use it to carry his bags. That’s exactly what my Magos has done, and this is his Slaaneshi Pack Mule.

Now, you can’t have your pack mule shifting back to the warp every five minutes – you’d lose all of your stuff. So our Magos here installed some sort of fancy inhibitor chip to stop his seeker from heading back to the warp. The downside of this is that unlike other daemons who can be “killed” go back to the warp, and then come back with all their bits intact, our steed can’t do that. So when he lost his leg, our Magos had to make him a new one. That’s my fluff, and I’m sticking to it.

So, that’s what inspired me to create the little creation that you see here, to join my Slaaneshi warband that I am indeed looking forward to trying them all out in some custom games of Necromunda.

necromunda slaanesh

The leg took most of the time to make. There are a lot of bits involved there; too many to mention them all. The thigh though is actually from an Eldar Wraithlord’s scatter laser – it’s funny how you find these parts. All of the packs and bags on its back are green stuff, filled with bits again from various kits, and that lovely servo skull too. There’s also the wire running down the neck which is snake chain, and a torch/light has replaced one of the jaw-horns. As simple as that!

In terms of the paint job, it’s pretty traditional Slaanesh really. Lots of pinks and purples, though I’m happy with how the scales turned out. Dark Reaper and Pink Horror give the snakeskin pattern, and after some washes and highlights, I finished it off with a gloss coat which gives it that slimy-not-slimy look that snakes have.

Well, he’s a bit different anyway. Another mad creation. Not sure about the rules for him yet. I think his gammy leg should make him slower than the lightning fast seekers we’re used to. And maybe people could give up shooting attacks if they’re within 1″ of this guy can throw an object from the packs on his back instead. They range from harmless tin cans to destroyer weapons that have been picked up by the Magos. I’ll work on that. Also, I think I’ll call him Binky.

slaanesh dark mech

IMG_0338

And he fits in quite nicely with the rest of my small team of Dark Mech Deviants. What’s more, I think I’ve nailed worn leather. I’m really happy with how those packs look. Binky was a lot of fun to work on.

Well, we’re just a couple of days away from Necromunda being released so expect more Underhive goodness next week and for the near future. Happy painting all. Onwards!

The Old Man Of The Sump – My Necromunda Wyrd

Posted by johnnya10 on 20/11/2017
Posted in: My Fluff Writing, My Painting and Modelling. Tagged: . 5 Comments

Necromunda Wyrd

“Long ago, in the distant yesterdays of Necromunda now long forgotten, a man lived among the high spires. His name too has slipped far from memory, but we know that he was vain. The finest silks imported from across the galaxy he was adorned in, and he was attended by servitors constructed on Mars itself. He even wore a jewel said to contain the soul of a great Eldar leader.

His stock was so high among the nobility of Hive Primus that he was invited to all of the most exclusive of engagements, from high table lunches with the ruling family heads, to opulent orgies held at the most enlightened establishments. All fawned over him, and many swore that wherever he walked, golden butterflies would rise from his footsteps. 

So decadent were his ways, and so beautiful his features, that the warp itself stirred and the whispers of Slaanesh carried into his mind night after night. She promised him every ecstasy he could possibly dream of, and every treasure that the galaxy could spare. And so he fell to her seductions. He pledged his soul so that he could be more beautiful, and so that he could experience the pleasures the Dark Prince offered.

For years he did just this. Secretly he prayed for to the Young God, and so he kept his beauty which became even more intense, and he experienced thrills and delights such as no mortal should ever partake in. But just as he deceived so many around him, he also worked to deceive Slaanesh herself. Through his contacts within the Aeldari traders that visited Hive Primus, he procured a method to keep his soul within a gemstone, and cheat the goddess of her prize. 

He enjoyed her gifts for thirty years and thirty days, praying to her and lying to her in tandem. But gods are not so easily fooled, and when he came to Slaanesh in the dark of night and told her that he had no intention of honouring their deal, She Who Thirsts was well prepared, for the eyes of the warp see all. She snatched the jewel containing his soul from about his throat and hurled into the dark depths of the Underhive. And how she cursed him, blinding him so that he could not see anything of beauty ever again, while his treacherous blood perpetually poured from his unseeing eyes.

It was thought that a madness had taken him. Those around him listened to his insane tales of Gods in the night, and saw the beauty slip from his features as his soul slipped deeper into the toxic pools of the sump. After being briefly committed, when his credits ran dry he was thrown to the Underhive. He stumbles blindly through the shadows, crying waterfalls of blood without end, as he searches the noxious muck of the sump for his soul. Perhaps it was here that his mind mutated, for he developed unwieldy and unfocussed psychic powers that kept him safe amongst the Hive’s scum and gang warriors. Or perhaps Slaanesh gave him this last gift so that he would be protected, and thus suffer even longer.

Some find him here still. Weeping his sanguine tears as he screams and cries into the darkness beneath the world. Ever lost, and ever alone, the Old Man Of The Sump still seeks his soul in the unwaters of this hellish realm. And from the darkness, on the very edge of hearing, you can hear the cackling of a delighted dark God.”

=][=

There you have it. My Wyrd, The Old Man Of The Sump is done. A composite of various kits, and painted in a bit of Blanchitsu style, this guy can be hired by any gang (when the rules for such turn up) and I’m looking forward to seeing him stumbling blindly around some custom scenarios, firing off psychic powers at any and all comers as he searches for his soul.

I had a load of fun working on this. The head (which comes from a Skaven chieftain’s banner pole) has those great bulbous eyes and that big beard, and it just needed to be on something. I’ve had it for years and I just got the idea to this and it worked! This is what I was saying about Necromunda in one of my last posts – you get the chance to create theses stories like the one above, and it’s a tonne of fun to do so.

Anyway, I hope you like him too. Stay tuned for more Necromunda bits and pieces. Here’s one final rear shot, and until next time, I shall wish you happy painting. Onwards!

wyrd

Photo Admin – New Images Of Old Work

Posted by johnnya10 on 02/11/2017
Posted in: My Painting and Modelling. 6 Comments

As many regular readers will know, I have issues with photography. Every time my laptop’s OS updates, the camera I use refuses to work with my computer. It’s not like it’s some random, weird or unique camera – it’s a Canon! And yet, the same issue occurs each time. In the grand scheme of things, this has meant that several miniatures that I’ve paint have never had good images taken on them. I’ve muddled through with iPhone photos taken in natural light. Well, this post is about making up for that. A few recent favourites have been rephotographed and while they’re no Ansel Adams masterpiece, they’re better than what was. So this post may not be the most important, but it needs doing. If you hang around for it, I hope you enjoy it. Here they are…

Delaque Leader

Delaque gang leader

With Necromunda just around the corner, it’s only right that this guy gets a better picture. The colours are crisper, the angles are sharper… it’s good to see this guy in this light. And I can’t wait for the new Delaque gang to appear. Soon, my pretties, soon…

Blood Angels Hammer Land Speeder

blood angels hammer land speeder

I was never happy with the soft focus images of this beast. It was weird picking it up and feeling how heavy it was again. Seriously, you could beat an ork to death with this thing. The above image really brings out the reds of this, and while it’s a little more unforgiving when it comes to the edge highlights, it really gets the colours to pop.

Mortifactors Primaris Lieutenant 

mortifactors primaris

Mortifactors have always presented an issue when it comes to photography. Being black and cream, do you photograph them against white or black? And whatever you pick, the camera struggles to get it right. At least with this new image, it gets us some of the way there. Still not perfectly in focus though.

Slaaneshi Cult Mechanicus

slaaneshi dark mechanicum

I can’t believe that it’s taken me this long to get a proper photo of these guys. Also, I need to get some rules written for them to compete in Necromunda. Also, check out those purple frosted tips.

Pickle Rick

pickle rick

Oh, Yeaaaahhhhh!!!!

And that’s it. Sorry it wasn’t the most interesting of posts, but it needed to be done for my own piece of mind. I hope you enjoyed them as much as one could expect you to. New more interesting posts will return soon. Onwards!

Blood Bowl Orcs Reinforcements – Troll & Goblin

Posted by johnnya10 on 27/10/2017
Posted in: My Painting and Modelling. Tagged: , , , . 2 Comments

blood bowl troll and goblin

You can never stop at just the boxed squad, right? Well, I’ve added to my Orc Blood Bowl Team, Da Mighty Redz, in the form of my new Troll and Goblin. The little and large duo move me a little closer to completing the project with plenty of time to spare before Necromunda hits in November, and I’m quite happy with how they both turned out.

The keen-eyed amongst you will notice that this is not the official Blood Bowl troll, but a Stone Troll (Sorry, ‘Rockgut Troggoth’ for those of you who speak Sigmarese) that’s been slightly converted and that’s because I’m not the greatest fan of the new Blood Bowl troll. While it’s of course a quality sculpt (what isn’t from GW these days, right?), I like my trolls to look like big, grumpy and fairly immobile brick walls, and not someone throwing out the first pitch at a Yankee’s game. Less dynamic, more static – which pretty much goes against my entire miniature design philosophy but I guess this is the exception that proves the rule.

So, I chopped off his bone-club (poor chap – sounds painful), and made a knuckleduster from some plasticard, green stuff and the spikes are actually from a Storm Raven’s missile launcher. I made some knee pads from green stuff, plasticard and green stuff made me the arm guards, and the shoulder pad is from the Chaos Terminator kit. There are a few green stuff leather straps and I had to hack off and rebuild half an ear to make room for the aforementioned shoulder pad. Oh, and he has a backplate that has been nailed into him because he’s a troll and he doesn’t mind that.

troll and goblin

The goblin was a tricky little bugger to paint. He didn’t take too long (I actually painted him in about 5 hours!) but it can be tricky to switch gears when you’ve been working on something as big as a troll. But that’s a super fun kit and I’m almost certainly going to be adding another gobbo in the near future. Not only because it was enjoyable to paint, but also because it’s pretty risky bringing a single goblin to a Blood Bowl game. They either get squished or the troll eats them so better safe than sorry.

And as you can see from the above snap, these guys are called Murvy and Owni which is my tribute to two Liverpool stars of my younger years – Danny Murphy and Michael Owen. Not exactly dead ringers, but Murphy does have a slightly troll like demeanour (and attitude) and Owen was (and still is) a bit short, so it kind of fits.

michael owen and danny murphy

In terms of tactics, the goblin is there to pick up the ball (because having played with Orcs, they’re practically incapable of this when you need them to) and the troll can throw him up the field to score me a touch down. Not particularly intricate tactics, but they’re a well used staple of the game. Looking forward to trying it out.

goblin troll height comparison

I just like this picture because it’s like they’re standing back to back with the Goblin saying something like “See, I’m definitely gettin’ taller!”. 😀 But it also shows off a bit more of the troll armour, and I love the look of the Goblin in profile – those helmets are awesome.

That’s your lot for this post. Well, except to say that the desk project has been delayed by just a couple of days while the last couple of stragglers get back to me. Early next week. I promise. Have a great Friday, a cracking weekend, and the very best of luck with all of your painting projects. Onwards!

Da Mighty Redz – Orc Blood Bowl Team

Posted by johnnya10 on 16/10/2017
Posted in: My Painting and Modelling. Tagged: , , . 3 Comments

I finished something! My Orc Blood Bowl team, Da Mighty Redz are now done! And what’s more, just to add a cherry on the top, my camera is working again, so I actually have half decent pictures of them. My cup (or Blood Bowl) runneth over. So here, in this post, I shall present to you the newest team to be taking to the pitch.

orc blood bowl team

blood bowl orc team names

Here are the first six. That’s Dag-Lash, Burnz, ‘Krazy Boar’, Hencho, Foula and Hip-Prya. And here come the rest of the team…

new orc blood bowl players

blood bowl orcs rear

Then we have the second six: Krush, Crag-Ghar, Jaw ‘Ard, Burga, Lonzo and Goblar.

I had a huge amount of fun painting this team and I really do love the miniatures. They’re excellently posed and with some great little details too. To think how far we’ve come since the old miniatures for this game! What a time to be painting.

I went a bit snap happy with the camera – it hasn’t worked for so long now and I wanted to make sure that I could do justice to all of the players here. What’s more, I wanted to further highlight what I talked about in my last post about this team – making duplicate pose figures look different. So let’s start with the linemen.

blood bowl orc linemen

I finished off these guys so long ago that I can barely remember painting them, but it’s nice to see them looking this good. I’m particularly fond of the “YNWA” (You’ll Never Walk Again) and “No Mersey” details on the armour. I also did the Orcidas symbol on one of these guys to go with the stripes. I’m also liking how the team symbol pops too – that nice flash of turquoise and yellow on each model really gives them something else.

blood bowl orc throwers

The throwers really highlight how the different green green skin tones can help to differentiate the two models. These guys were painted a long time ago so I don’t remember too much about them either – geez, I’ve really got to get better at painting fast just so that I can remember what I did to talk about it on here!

black orc blockers

The Black Orc Blockers were a huge amount of fun to paint, and all those flat surfaces give you so much room with which to have fun. And they are huge too – they really look good and intimidating. Can’t wait to see them holding up the line and stomping face.

orc blood bowl blitzers

And the Blitzers are done! I was thinking about giving them very vibrant plumes, but went with natural hair tones instead – it just felt a little better because these guys are already colourful enough. I do like Foula’s fancy purple boots though. Very fetching. These guys were a little tougher to paint than the rest of the team because that dynamic pose gives you some funny angles to work around. But great fun to paint too – those masks/helmets are great!

IMG_0298

That’s the team – Da Mighty Redz are now ready to take to the field. I think I’ve done both Liverpool FC and the Orc tribes proud. However, just because the core team is done, that doesn’t mean that this project is over. Oh no. For a start, you’ve already seen my Ghoul-Chewer and some of the peripherals:

varag ghoul chewer and peripherals

And there is more to come, but you’ll have to wait for that. I’ve still got a little time before Necromunda, so I have to fill my time somehow. But for now, this is your lot. I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing the team in all their glory. Next step: the big leagues. Onwards!

=][=

Oh, and one more thing. A lot of you liked my post about the desk project. I’ve had some responses already, but I’d still like some more. A lot of you liked that post, so it’d be great to get a few more responses from you. Please take another look, and drop me an email if you can. Cheers!

Black Orc Blockers – Blood Bowl Continues

Posted by johnnya10 on 04/10/2017
Posted in: My Painting and Modelling. Tagged: . 2 Comments
Black Orc Blockers
I thought it had been a while since I showed you a proper update on where I’m at with my Blood Bowl team, Da Mighty Redz, and so I present to you my two Black Orc Blockers – Daglash and Burga.
Yes, those of you who know your Sports Ball will recognise those names as close approximations of Dalglish and Burger – two of my favourite Liverpool FC players. Their numbers even match, though Daglash is technically ‘Also 7’ as a lot of good players have worn the No.7 shirt at Liverpool so there’ll be another ‘7’ joining my team soon. There’s not much of a similarity in looks though…
dalglish and burger
But the other thing I wanted to talk about in this post is subtle conversions, and differentiating paint jobs that can help to add some individualisation and personality to your teams. My heart sank initially when I first learnt that all the teams were made up of 6×2 models – six pairs if you like, of identical players. I didn’t want to waste a lot of time doing heavy conversions and changing stances.
So in order to give them some individuality, I took a two stage approach – minor conversions, and paint jobs. And thankfully, Orcs are probably the easiest team to do this work on as they’re supposed to look a bit more battered and smashed up.
minor conversions blood bowl orcs
Minor Conversions:
  • Spikes – Add/Remove some of the hundreds of spikes that appear all over this team. Take one from a shoulder, and add it to a helmet. Take a couple from a knee pad, and add those removed spikes to a gauntlet or knuckle duster. Rinse and repeat.
  • Scratches – Using a craft knife, just cut a few additional scratches into the edges of the armour. Don’t go overboard, but a few here and there.
  • Holes – One or two only. Use something like the smallest bit in the citadel hand drill kit to make a couple of holes in the armour.
  • Green Stuff – Does he have a plume? Add a few more hairs to it. Does he have a bit of cloth hanging down? Make it a little longer. Keep it simple and small, and make sure it’s different on each model.
Do this to each pair (ensuring that you keep things different) and along with the basing, you can get some real individualism into each member. Some will say that without changing the poses, this won’t be enough, but remember this – as someone who has played both Rugby and American Football, I can tell you that individualism in your stance isn’t something that’s desirable. In fact, it can get you injured pretty quickly. Good form on a player looks pretty much the same for every player. There’s only one best stance, and your guys are both good at it (they’re pros) so that’s enough. It shows that they’re pros.
black orc blood bowl rear
Painting Changes:
*Remember, when it comes to colours, keep your armour all the same in terms of base colours and highlighting. In my team, this means red and silver with white details and the same ‘flaming torch’ emblem on their right shoulder. But everything else…
  • Boots – Have you seen footballers’ boots recently? The days of plain black boots are long gone, so go wild with the colours.
  • Trousers – You might want them a bit more uniform for other teams, but for Orcs, these can be changed around. Greys and Browns are your friends here.
  • Skin Tone – every race has a wonderful rainbow of skin tones to choose, so don’t stick to the same formula for each. (Black Orcs aren’t the best example of this as I wanted to keep them both dark, but other team members have more widely varying tones as you can see in this post)
  • Numbers & Details – Obvious one; each number gets a different number. And change where you put some of the other details. My ‘Orcidas’ stripes are a good example.
  • Effects – When adding mud, scratches or rust patches, you’ll naturally be a bit more random, and that’s great. Different locations for rust really helps to set them apart.
And that’s about it. Well, that’s how I’ve done it. I’m not trying to teach you anything advanced here, but the whole team is starting to really come together and thanks to these methods, there isn’t too much of a mirror-image-vibe going on.
Here are the two blitzers that I’ve just undercoated (they’re the final part of the boxed team left for me to paint) and you can see a couple of subtle conversions in there. As for the paint jobs, these Black Orc Blockers demonstrate how to keep them in uniform, but both individual.
unpainted orc blitzers converted
With that, I shall leave you for now. I hope you’ve enjoyed checking out what I’m working on, and that this gave you a few ideas to help make your identical duos a little less identical. Hopefully I’ll have the whole team ready to show you soon. Onwards!

Pickle Rick in the 41st Millennium!

Posted by johnnya10 on 29/08/2017
Posted in: My Painting and Modelling. Tagged: . 8 Comments

Warhammer 40000 Pickle Rick miniature

We had a long weekend over here in the UK this week and I was watching a little of Rick & Morty season 3, and while watching arguably the best episode of the season so far, my brain had a really stupid idea. “Why don’t you try and sculpt Pickle Rick for Warhammer 40,000” and that’s how I lost my long weekend.

Now, I am no great sculptor of miniatures. The medium of Green Stuff is one that I find fiddly and frustrating at best, but I thought I’d give it a shot. Now, in order to do any sort of detail on this, I couldn’t make it too tiny. It’s not to scale. or, I guess maybe a Rick (perhaps from dimension L-211) landed on Catachan (where everything is bigger, tougher, stronger and scarier) and discovered Catachan Pickles. He used these to improve on Rick C-137’s original designs, along with the necessary parts from a Catachan rat that was to scale. But I digress…

The limbs are literally made of cut and shaped staples and even bits of cotton thread. His shoulder mounted Lascannon is made from parts of a Hunter Killer missile, while his Xacto/Screw weapon is made from one of the smaller pouches that come with Space Marine kits. There’s also a pouch full of batteries – the pouch is made of green stuff, while the batteries are actually the bolts from a Chaos Space marine Bolt Pistol.

40k pickle rick and morty

As he’s so tiny (I’ll show you some comparisons in a sec), I had to make his base a bit busy. There are some rocks, a spire thing, a skull, some barbed wire, and a glowing green rock because we all know how Rick loves glowing green rocks.

This is by far the fiddliest thing I’ve ever painted, but hopefully I got plenty of details in. I even managed to do the tiny rat brain at the back…

40k pickle rick rear

That brain is about the size of a pin head, which is slightly larger than the individual vertebrae that I somehow managed to do without swearing too much. I’d really like to get some better pictures but my camera/software is still out of action. When it functions again, I shall take some better snaps of him (and some other models) and share them here.

Now, how about those size comparisons…

pickle rick space marine

So, he’s about knee-high to a Primaris Space Marine. Or to put it another way…

pickle rick nurglings

 

…about the same size as an individual (and very dusty – I really need to dust my miniatures!) Nurgling. To be honest, I never want to work on anything this frail, fiddly or tiny again. Especially if it involves green stuff. I started work on a Rhino straight after this as I just wanted to work on something big and get my perspective back!

Now, as well as putting together this miniature, I didn’t want to leave it at that. What would be the point in having this miniature at my disposal, if I couldn’t use him? So I wrote some rules. Full disclosure – these are very silly (like, mega silly), though I hope in keeping with the character. They have not been play tested, and to be honest, I started with Roboute Guilliman and toned it down slightly. Because why not, right? So, if you want to torture yourself my making a tiny pickle man (or Solenya), then you are more than welcome to use these rules (provided your opponent is mad enough to agree to you using them). Here you are:

pickle rick warhammer 40000 rules data sheet

Like I said: Silly. He becomes a more accurate shot the more wounds he takes, he hates Necrons and they hate him, and he will pretty much fight for anyone who will take him. I like to think that the Inquisition regard him as an oddity worthy of study, while the Chaos Space Marines think he could be a daemon in the employ of some new dark God. The Ad Mech are in awe of skills with machinery, the Dark Eldar are in awe of his sadistic nature, and the Orks are in awe of his violent tendencies. I could genuinely see him fitting in with any of these forces.

So there you have it. That’s how I lost my long weekend and gained a ridiculous miniature with a ridiculous set of rules. It was fun at least. I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing this …no, there isn’t a better word than “Ridiculous” post, and normal service will resume shortly. Get Schwifty, y’all. Onwards.

giphy

 

Varag Ghoul-Chewer

Posted by johnnya10 on 21/08/2017
Posted in: My Painting and Modelling. Tagged: . Leave a comment

varag ghoul-chewer blood bowl star player

Hello, Blood Bowl fans! And welcome to the post that shows off the first images of my very own Varag Ghoul-Chewer. This was the model that I was going to take to the Forge World Open Day but I didn’t have a chance to finish him. Well, I’m glad that I took my time and didn’t rush anything, because I’m particularly happy with how this massive orc turned out now that I’m finished with him. Let’s take a closer look at the latest addition to my Blood Bowl team.

So, I painted him in very much the same way that I’ve shown on this blog before – a process detailed in this tutorial. He’ll be playing for Da Mighty Redz when I get them all done (getting closer now), so it’s that same Mephiston Red armour and for his flesh, I used a blend of Waaagh! Flesh and Moot Green paints mixed pretty much 1:1 for the base. I probably did give this chap a few extra layers of highlight just because I want him to pop a little more, and I think it’s worked quite nicely, but it’s pretty much the same method apart from that.

ghoul-chewer rear view

Rather than assign a legend like Varag Ghoul-Chewer a squad number, I’ve gone with a crudely drawn star motif that I thought was fitting of a player with this guy’s reputation. Also, as all the other players in the squad have numbers and names based on Liverpool Football club players, I didn’t want to confuse that. What’s more, there’s a lot less rust on this guy – he’s a star player so I’d guess he can afford to keep his gear a little better than the team grunts.

One thing that I’m really happy with on this miniature is the weathering and effects. From the mud placed on the raised boot, to just the general wear and tear all over, he definitely looks like he’s been sprinting around a muddy pitch for more than a few minutes. I also cracked out the Blood For The Blood God technical paint to decorate Varag’s massive weapon. I don’t like overusing it, so it’s just a hint.

blood bowl orc star player

The squig gave me some issues, and it’s probably the weaker part of the model. The eyes didn’t come out quite as I’d liked, and there could be more highlighting on the flesh. But over all, I’m very happy with this miniature and I look forward to fielding him.

But I didn’t get the chance to field him in that painting competition, so it’s only right that I let him stand on his plinth at least once. Here he is in the glory he never really got:

varag ghoul-chewer on display plinth

And if you’re worried about him toppling over, I should tell you that there’s a 2p piece superglued to the underside of his base. It’s made him so much more stable. He was a bit wobbly on the desk top before that so he’d be very precarious on that plinth without the added weight, and the 2p piece is the perfect size and weight for these bases..

And now I need to get back to my painting desk – there’s a lot I still want to do this year and I’m aware of time running out. Not only do I need to get this Blood Bowl team done, but there’s a certain red painted legion that needs my attention too. I hope your painting efforts are going well. Onwards!

Bits And Bobs – Random Hobby Thoughts In July ’17

Posted by johnnya10 on 06/07/2017
Posted in: My Painting and Modelling, Silliness and Stuff, Thoughts and Comment, Uncategorized. Tagged: . 2 Comments
Every now and again, as my regular readers can attest to, I like to put up a post that isn’t really about one thing. It’s about lots of things that maybe don’t deserve their own posts. The little bits and bobs of hobby-related ideas and activities that are worth voicing (well, I think they are and it’s my blog, so there) but not stretching out to a full post. So, here goes…
WoundWangs
Bits And Bobs - Random Hobby Thoughts
Heard of a WoundWang before? Well, now you have. These little bits of pointy plastic are the genius brainchild of Mönk Stevens and they are incredibly useful for tracking wounds in 40k now that there are some beasties out there with dozens of wounds on them. They come in a wide range of different sizes to cater for models with just a few wounds, to the really big stuff as well. The project is now backed on Kickstarter (and I count myself among the backers) but seeing as it’s such a darn good idea, it’s worth spreading the word a bit more. And if nothing else, you can giggle at the name. Wang. Lol.
Back the Woundwang project on Kickstarter today!
WIPs
I have found a little more time to paint recently and my Blood Bowl team, Da Mighty Redz, are progressing, though slowly. I’ve added three more linemen since the last time I posted, and I’ve also done their turn/score icons as well.
orc blood bowl team wip
I’ve also got a crazy plan for their cheat tokens, but more on that later.
And hot on the heels of last week’s Primaris Lieutenant, I’ve decided to get my grossness on again and I’m having a crack at the big bell bloke from the Dark Imperium box (I’ll learn his name later). He’s in his very early stages right now, but you can get an idea of what I’m working towards here:
nurgle marine wip
Some classic Nurgle green, and plenty of tainted metallics as well. Yuk, but yay. A few more bits to base layer and wash before highlighting happens, but I’m hoping to get a chance to work on it this weekend.
Orks & Primaris 
orcs and space marines
This is just a shower thought I had about how the appearance of Primaris Marines must have affected the greenskins. We know that Orks associate a great deal of importance with size. The bigger the Ork, the more authority he has. Snotlings are at the bottom of the food chain, then grots, then boys and then Nobs. Well, for all these millennia, presumably the Orks have considered the Space Marines to be the Nobs, and the Guardsmen the grots, right? So how did they react when they saw the new Primaris Marines? Surely these new humies must be the real Nobs! They’re so much bigger! Which of course to orks means that there’s more humie to kill, which is all well and good, but they still must have had a shock when they realised that what they thought were humie nobs were just boys and that the nobs have only just now arrived. Just one of those random thoughts that pops into your head when you spend too much time hunched over your paints and minis. Has anyone else thought this, or had a similar sort of thought recently?
Codices Are Coming
And what a schedule to look forward to. For those indignant that the Space Marines get the first book, you need to hush up a little. A) Often times the first book is the weakest (Baby, I know the first book is the weakest / But when it comes to rolling lucky I’m cursed / When it comes to learning rules I’m the worst… *cough* sorry about that. Anyway…) and B) Of course they were going to get the first book! They’re the poster boys and they just got a load of new fancy units. It would be weird if they didn’t go first.
8th edition codex
But by the end of the year (and that’s not that long) they’re talking about having 10 books out, which is darn good. While the index books have been fine for getting us all familiar with the new rules, they lack personality, they’re a bit bloated and cumbersome, and obviously, they don’t include the fluff or miniature galleries either. This will be a busy and very interesting schedule and I’m sure I’ll cover it in more depth as the books get released – I will definitely be getting a copy of the Space Marines book though, so I’m looking forward to that.
And that’s sort of that. Not too much specific, but plenty going on. I hope your own hobby efforts are going well. Onwards!