Space Wolf Bust showcase

Today I have a very Wolfy treat! This is not part of the new releases but I'm glad I finished it in time for the Wolfmania. Let me introduce you Thorunn Frozenfang, a magnificient bust by the talented Freeman. This is in my mind what a Space Wolf should look like, and even though the current plastic range is pretty good, it still has some cartoonish edge to it. This bust is a lot more to my liking.

This is my first bust and I think came out decently. It is a different beast to paint the face of a 28mm miniature than this, and thus I dared not go for extrme lights and contrasts, and tried to make him look reallistic. This is why for example there are not strong highlights on the shoulderpads - it is a larger scale that requires less tricks to make it pop. It was nonetheless a very enjoyable experience and a nice complement to my Space Wolves army.

The plan for now is to display him proudly in my desk (perhaps move it next to the TV if my wife is candid enough) and revisit the paintjob in the future if I improve my skills; things like adding more depth to the face or increase the weathering. I mean, the face for example has lots of different layers and glazes, and I added different pigments to the armour but the difference in scale somewhat seems to make this less visible. Anyhow I hope you like it and if you are a Space Wolf fan, might consider as well to treat yourself to a copy of Thorunn. For Russ and the Almighty, greetings and thanks for reading.

Eldar Fire Prism showcase

Greetings! After sitting for a while packed in a box (I moved home) I finally managed to complete this Ulthwé Fire Prism. Oh boy this is a beautiful kit! It has all the elegant, alien lines of the Eldar and adds an incredible turret. If that isn't a big gun, I don't know what it is! Of course game-wise Prisms are still a good option; with 3 fire modes and a 60" range there is always something the Prism can deal with. 

The turret and weapon options are fully magnetised so I can convert it to a Night Spinner or a Wave Serpent with the help of a FW turret. Unfortunately, the Night Spinner parts are still lost in some of the (many) boxes that had to be unpacked yet. Oh well.

I'm pretty pleased with the color scheme, the lightning blue parts mesh well with the Eldar aesthetic and give a pulsing sense of energy. You might notice the gems are not yet painted - I will just batch-paint them all in the future, when that dreaded day comes. For now I just basecoated where I wanted the gems to be.

The back of the Prism replaces the normal Serpent door for what seem batteries or generators, and fit very well with the overall energy theme.

The gunner cockpit - all the pilots in my Eldar army are painted in this blue/greenish scheme, like they're lit by displays.

The bottom of the turret has more lightning, and you can see in the main body the different sources. I wanted it to be throbbing with energy, but not so much to make it look blue. I think I got a good balance here with the gunship still being black for the most part.

The turret without the guns - you can see where the magnets are, with the paint scrapping due to the usage. Magnetizing this kit is not only good in terms of game options, but it is a must if you plan to move it around and keep it in one piece.

It only has one Ulthwé mark on this side of the hull; I might add a Prism symbol on the other side, and that's about it. This model is so elegant that doesn't deserve to be covered in decals!

And this is where the magnets are placed. The GW designers didn't make it as easy as it could have been, but it is doable nonetheless and very recommendable. Just keep in min the Prism itself is rather long and you will need a larger magnet for this one; I think this one has a 8mm diameter.

And that's it. Hope you liked it!

Eldar Fire Dragons Showcase

Howdy! today I bring some classic Fire Dragons for my new Eldar army. I really like these models, I think they epitomize most of what is Eldar - slender and graceful yet with a sense of power, and they look utterly alien which I like as well.

This is the Fire Dragon Exarch. I opted for the fusion gun because that's what I will be using in games, and also because the hobbyist in me didn't want the firepike to cover all the details in the body :)



The Wave Serpent in the back is their assigned transport. Same as the Dragons it is still missing the gems... so many of those! I will show it some other day, for now I will just anticipate I wanted do something different and show Eldar are the Children of the Stars so I painted a nebulae and stars all over it ^^ yes I might have jumped the shark on this one.

Some notes on the painting

The models were painted with airbrush, using a similar method to my Blood Angels:

• Basecoat with Vallejo's Red Brown primer.
• I then created some pre-lights by lightly airbrushing a soft grey from a zenital angle. This makes the next red coat to have some color modulation. It's a very simple and effective technique.
• For the body I applied some tones of red, Italian Red from  Vallejo comes to mind, to which I added a small part of yellow to get a more orange tone.
• The helmet was painted Yellow obviously.

Then it is a matter of adding the shadows with controlled strokes of either a very dilluted dark red paint, or a less dilluted wash. The lights were added with watered down light oranges, yellows and white. The Citadel Edge paints are great for this work (in general).

The guns were painted light grey and then washed with brown, then cleared it a little bit. The weapons link visually the Fire Dragons with the rest of Eldars (Guarians and Avengers mainly) due to the bone color of their weapons. Notice how the muzzle of the weapons has a scorched look, this can be achieved with purple and red glazes.

The bases are the awesome Urban Streets rubble from Secret Weapon Miniatures. The rest of Eldar models use a different base though. I went for this choice to fit with the Exarch model that is stepping on some tank residues.

Here's some more pictures, hope you like them! Feel free to post any comments or feedback.

Dark Angels Nephilim Jetfighter Showcase

After sitting in my table for some months now, the Nephilim jetfighter is finally finished. And boy, it is a great model! it looks very Space Marine with its boxy shape and gothic finishes, but also very Dark Angels. Personally I prefer this model over the Storm Talon any day, it looks more "realistic" and menacing.

Paint-wise, the key to painting black is, well, no to paint black. I know it sounds strange but think about when you've just primed black a model, there is no definition or shapes, and it is indeed very difficult to make out the shapes and details. This is why most areas are painted dark-grey, leaving the black for the final shadows or deepest recesses. This can be seen for example in the nose, than is one of the light points.

The second secret would be the edge highlighting. This model uses 4 different tones, from dark grey to almost white. The idea is that the highlights should be consistent with the color around it. In the case of the nose again, notice how the edges that receive the light have an almost white highlight, while as the line goes down to the heavy bolters it gets darker as the panel is also obscured. Does this make sense?

The reason it's missing the side antennas is just I haven't painted those yet - the model is completely magnetized so I can swap it to a Dark Talon, should I want to play a veeeery casual game.

The brown dirt in the wings is the effect of the oil pants. Alternatively spraying burnt umber is a good way to achieve a similar effect.

 The base... well as much as I love resin bases, especially like those from Secret Weapon Miniatures, the reality is that I didn't want to spend more money in this one so I just created the base with some bits and sand from the park.

The pilot is painted turquoise in an effort to replicate the light from his console. A black pilot in a black ship would be very difficult to spot.

Hope you like it! let me know what you guys think

Dark Angels Veterans Showcase

Sternguard veterans are amongst my favourite Space Marine minis. They are essentially what a Space Marine should be, wearing ornamented power armour with different replacement parts, scrolls, necklaces, service studs and other blings to make each one stand out. Probably because of my love for Space Wolves, I just find the bog-standard vanilla squads boring, where the only difference is that the occasional skull in the helmet or chst plate. Now Dark Angels don't get Sternguard vets but I just couldn't resist to paint 5 for the greenwing. In game I will either use them as Tactical marines, or as allied SM sternguard.

Of course I still need to base them, but I'm still undecided. For me the bases need to fulfill 2 roles i) enhance the army by providing a rich contrast and ii) set said army in a context, for example a campaign I've read in a book. Now I'm fairly new to DA lore and as such I don't know much beyond them fighting greenskins, and color-wise I'd like to use the same bases for the Death, Raven and Green wings. Any ideas and recommendations are very appreciated!

Also here's a sneak peek at what's in my desk right now - the mighty DW Knights! alas I need to replace the needle on my airbrush so there will be limited progress this week. What do you guys think?

Deathwing Terminators Showcase

Now that the internet is going crazy with the new DA Knights is a good time to present the DW termies from Dark Vengeance. You might notice the slightly different postures as I magnetized all the weapons. By the way if the Assault Cannon is now only 20 points I will field it quite often. Not only is pretty good, but looks badass!

The Energy Sword of the Sergeant is painted in the well-known Les Burstley way (check out his awesome video here). After a few unsuccesful attempts this is the first time I actually manage to achieve a satisfying finish. The small white lines is something I've seen Arsies do on his magnificient Grey Knights tutorial. Alas, the airbrush learning curve is a steep one.

The bases come from Secret Weapon miniatures. I just added some the razorwire in the base and might add some more chaos helmets / bits if GW releases a new set that resembles the DV Chaos chosen

So what do you think? Comments / suggestions are welcome!

Dark Angels Tactical Squad Showcase

New year, new post! Here is the Tactical Squad from DV in all of it's plasma splendour, right on time for the new codex! With this squad I tried a different approach to painting power armour that I had taken with my Space Wolves and Blood Angels, and I'm pretty pleased in how they turned out. Can't wait to put them in the field!

And some close-ups. First the the plasma gunners. I'm pretty pleased with the soft OSL glowing, especially on the guy on the right. He's got a bigger gun so I supposed the effect should be more evident, as opposed to the guy to the left that has a subtle glow in his chest eagle and helmet.

And a legionary in Corvus armour. The application of light in some areas has diminished the overall darkness of the model but the results are worth it. The bases turned out really dark and make a good contrast.

Let me know what do you guys think. Would you make any changes for the upcoming squads?

Games Day 2012 Space Marine Captain Showcase

Howdy! this is the Games Day 2012 Space Marine Captain limited edition. A fine sculpt by Juan Díaz, who unsurprisingly was there (GD Spain) ready to talk to all the fans who attended - a rather large mob I have to say!

As most of you know this is a homage to the 2nd edition of 40k that featured this audacious fella in the box cover. 2nd was the very first edition that I have (and still unpainted lol) so it felt good that now 6th edition is a go, we remember the good ol' days.

So with this in mind I painted the mini as a bog standard BA captain, although decided to pass on most of the yellow areas (bar one knee cap) as it would not really fit well with the rest of the army. This is also a fine figure should you want to use Tycho in games - that mini is pretty old and you only need to add a combimelta. Of course I magnetized the backpack and bolter arm.

Enjoy the pics and feel free to post your comments / questions!

Death Company Showcase

Greetings! This is my finished Death Company, comprised of Lemartes, DC Dread and 10 maniacs in black power armour. These badasses have 5 S5 attacks on the charge with re-rolls to hit and to wound. Good luck surviving that. They also have FNP for added survivability against power weapons and plasma shots, and relentless in case you want to double tap things to death.

From a hobby perspective, it's refreshing to paint units that look different to the rest of the army.  Considering the fluff and their damage output, I decided it was only fitting that they would stood in some Bone field bases from Secret Weapon Miniature. I refrained from adding blood though, there's already a lot of bones!

As I do with most of the units that have different wargear options, I throughoutly magnetized their arms and backpacks / jump packs. It doesn't take a lot of time and it's very handy when you want to try new things out. Hmm should I lose 1 attack in CC and instead doubletap with bolters? easy peasy. Or add some plasma guns to deal with those pesky terminators? there you go. I have to admit though the fact that the magnets allow me to change the poses and look is also important. Blame it to all those G.I.joes I used to play with in the late 80s. But I digress. These guys have been great fun to paint and I'm looking forward to bring them to tourneys *sardonic smile*.

Keep your Techmarine happy and enjoy the wargear

The DC Dread is just a great kit, allowing you to create a Furioso, Librarian and DC Dread. Note that with some magnets you can actually interchange the front plates and thus have access to the 3 of them. I'm only showing you here a normal DC Dread but I also builded the frag cannon, force weapon arm and the other 2 plates. In gaming terms, well it's still a combat beast and will do mincemeat of most troops out there. Just keep him away from the usual anathemas: haywire grenades, mass TH, melta hunters, etcetera.

As for the painting, I'll be doing a complete tutorial sometime soon. Suffice to say painting black armour can be a royal pain in the arse (see this great article @ From The Warp), and that the secret is actually in drawing the attention from the armour - things like gems, faces, weapons, parchments... can help here. Stay tuned to a tutorial and enjoy the pictures!

Lemmy, care to place your jump pack straight? *sighs* magnets

Some OSL in that power fist

Top tip: Some glossy varnish on the gems will give them volume and shine. 

Notice the weathering powders in the legs, scorching in the armour and OSL talons.