Friday, April 11, 2014

Different Sisters, new primer


Here's something from a miniature Company called Svarog Miniatures.  

This is a set of four different Sisters of Battle possibilities... be they Inquisitors, Canonesses, Sister Superiors, etc.
They are resin kits that also come with sculpted bases specifically designed for each miniature.
The kits did have a few pieces, but it seemed to be pretty easy to get all of that together.

Also, not lots of crazy mould lines in impossible places, which was great!  That could have been possible with the relatively complex nature of the poses.

They come individually boxed like this:


This one was my personal favorite.  I am looking forward to painting all of them (in my green Sisters of the Raven scheme) and adding them to various squads.


Since all of the GW flamer Sisters are exactly the same, it is very nice to have this one.  However, I think I will be using it as a Heavy Flamer to add to Retributors, Dominions, etc.


This one is an unusual pose, but it could make a very interesting Mistress to lead a batch of Repentia.  I have tons of those, and this would be a nice change from the ancient metal version!


More flaming death!
The scale of these gals works just fine with the existing Sisters.  When these are painted, I will be sure to have side by side images with GW Sisters.

Here's a link:


This is also a new product for me... from Badger.  This is their new primer set.  I had heard many good things about it, and I think it is a winner.

I primed the above resin miniatures by brushing on the gray (have I mentioned once or twice or a thousand times how I love gray primer?!)  Those miniatures were straight from the package... no soaking, no washing.  The primer stuck right away, and was very solid.

I was even able to water it down in some places to get a little more control in very detailed or less robust parts.


Practice Practice Practice


Once again, I think you will recognize all the elements here... tartan, tats, and even hair color :-)


All part of the campaign to get the color scheme of the Highland Guard and Sisters rendered to muscle memory as much as possible. That really paid off when I had to start painting one of the squads at 2 am the morning of the tournament!!!


Thursday, April 10, 2014

This is heavy, but is slices pretty good


A classic Reaper mini, which was obviously another practice figure for the Highland Guard.  I did a number of these, testing out the tartan pattern, which you will recognize.


I also tested out the tattoo patterns as well!


Seeing double


There are a host of different weapon options that come with the RAV 6 x 6.  I have a few of them here, starting with the Hydra option as well as the classic multilaser Chimera.


There is also a heavy flamer option (which you will see later) as well as the Plasma cannon.


The weapons themselves are metal.  I have pinned mine, but magnetizing is also possible.


I all, I think there are ten different options, including heavy bolter, demolisher cannon, etc.


The Victoria Miniatures Highland Guard standing around them are perfectly GW sized, so the scale works well also!


When you hear these pipes, you get a wee bit of plasma to the face!


Wednesday, April 9, 2014

These are a few of my Favorite Things


Here are some very fun views of Justin's fantastic tanks, and Victoria's equally fantastic Highland Guard.

I hope you guys are not getting too tired of seeing these, because I have not even seen these kinds of views myself!


I used this as a Hydra in my army.  Believe it or not, it actually shot down the one (and only) flyer that I saw in the tournament!  It sent a Valkyrie crashing down into some treasonous Guard!


I can't emphasize enough just how nice it was to be painting these.  I had a blast!


I will show you a few posts in the future where I have added stowage to the RAV turret, and made an area for the sitting Highland Guard to hang out.  These are really fun!  I will be using them to show that the tank is occupied or not.


As a note... you don't have to weather your vehicles as intensely as these.  I was using them for the Weathering and Battle Damage videos, so I had to do a bit more than I usually would.  Lots of Justin's powders were used, but not only for weathering.

Each of the Highland Guard you see had many subtle layers of powder on them.  I used some of the 'regular' colored powders to add extra depth to midtones, to lighten shadow areas, and to soften other edges.

I have been doing more and more of that technique!


The next post will feature more of these, and some of the additional weapons that are available!

Thanks once more to Secret Weapon and Victoria


Fly Girls


Ah... this is much easier now with the internet actually working!

The Seraphim, as promised.  Well, most of them at least.  These are the non-GW Archangels from VOID (now Urban Warfare).  Obviously, a bit of conversion with the Blood Angel wings...


I really love the Archangels.  The figures date back to 2003 or earlier, but they were very dynamic for their time, and still are all these years later.  A testament to Kev White and his genius!


I used some of the Secret Weapon ruined columns on the bases for the more active of the ladies.  Not only did it look neat, but it was also a nice little counterweight to the wings.


I will snap some individual shots of these so you can get a better idea of the details.


These gals are completely out of production now.  You have seen me paint one of them before, in Space Wolves colors.  They are almost more appropriate, since it really looks like they are wearing power armor!


The way the wings are constructed meant I could not do as much of the text based freehand like the others.  If I had more time, I was going to do lots of knotwork patterns on the sections... which I think I will do anyway! :-)


So, I will continue to get you images of the individual minis and squads where I can, while interspersing some other stuff.  There are several new miniature companies who have placed stuff on my very crowded desk to paint...


Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Sisters at the ready!


Time for some fun pictures!   First,  we feature the converted Secret Weapon RAV 6 × 6 tank.  Standing guard is one of the units of Sisters. 


I had a lot of fun making the armour skirts and Exorcist turret.  There are previous posts showing how it was made.


I was really itching to see the Sisters side by side with thier beloved tank!


These were all painted at radically different times, but the shaded basecoat technique eliminates any worries! 


The view from above,  showing how the bases, vehicle and armor all tie in together. 


Next up, some posts on the completed Seraphim.