A New Matilda!

I have to say, it was quite interesting to work on the new Matilda "Boss" tank from Victoria Miniatures after painting two historical Matildas for Bolt Action!  While I was able to carry across many of the techniques onto this massive beast, I needed to make a few new twists, and some discoveries along the way!!

In regards to the Vallejo Metal Medium, that proved to be incredibly handy on all the weapon surfaces, as metallics were the order of the day on these.  

It was a material that I liked right away the first time I used it (I have a number of tutorials on that already), and since then I have learned more ways to take advantage of it.

In this case, I was mixing it with the Secret Weapon Miniatures heat paints.  It is a set of 3 (magenta, orange and blue), and I learned that those work best when combined with the metal medium.  

While the heat paints are quite thick, they are very translucent.  This means that the metals will really show through, making your heat effects look like part of the metals instead of something that was merely painted on!

I tried to come up with an insignia scheme that would be interesting, but also had a nod to WW2 historical markings.  Some of you will recognize the diamond, which is one of several shapes used on British vehicles.  There was also a very hilarious accident, in which I tried to replicate the unit type symbol frequently used on British vehicles as well.

If you notice the blue and red chevron/square shape, there's a letter 'V'  I did that because I have already done a variety of numerals elsewhere.  The colors of that square were used to indicate what type of unit is was (infantry support, artillery, transport, cruiser tank, etc,

Well, it was not until later that I realized I had emblazoned the vehicle with several "V" for Victoria on the Matilda!  Complete accident, I swear.

I also used some of the Green Stuff World leaf cutters to make a few leaves scattered around in the areas where debris might collect.  Lots of mud effects were done on the treads of course.  

This is just the first post in a series, because this vehicle comes with a TON or weapon options, including additional sponsons and even a different turret!!  Stay tuned for the next post which will show many more of these very cool options!

Meanwhile, here's a link to the store:

https://victoriaminiatures.com/collections/vehicles-and-bits-1/products/copy-of-matilda-boss-battle-tank

Mighty Kurgonova

The officers of my old Imperial Guard army were a tough bunch... the Kurgonova Sisters from Raging Heroes!

Since most Raging Heroes figures trend towards wider stances such as this, it meant that my basing techniques meshed fairy well.  I love making slight overhang bases like this instance, and giving it a bit of a twist by setting the broken door on a slight angle.  

This serves to reduce the width needed on those overhangs, because you are utilizing that angle to take off a millimeter or two from that distance if it had been set 'flat' on the base.

Doing so also increases the drama of the pose, and makes that wider stance have more meaning... as if the character were climbing up the sheet metal, or trying to maintain balance, etc.

Finally, it makes it appear that the character might be dueling with a nearby enemy, unseen in the image but implied nevertheless!

She's available here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/222489522114?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649

Commanding Presence

I know it's been a while since you have seen some Victoria Miniatures here.  That's been a product of playing other games besides 40k... and not because I don't LOVE these fantastic miniatures.

This one was introduced at Adepticon, and I have wanted to paint it ever since.

I could not resist putting the light next to her, in order to provide a little warm back light to all the muted, cooler colors of the uniform.

The pose is one of my favorites.  Very stern, very much in charge... but still relaxed.  Not every figure needs to be scurrying around with its hair on fire. :-)

Check out more of her fantastic figures right on her website:

http://victoriaminiatures.highwire.com/

She's also here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/322173139480?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649

MEDIC!!

I used this medic figure as part of my command squad for my Imperial Guard army at Adepticon in 2014.  I had a lot of fun adapting this old Battle of Maccrage figure for this purpose.

Yes, I also could not resist lots of blood spatter!

I had a lot of fun painting his white blood stained lab coat :-)

The view from above!

He's also here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/221976432494?

Wild Wolves...

Now here's something I have not had a chance to see since it was in the tournament last year!

This was my unit of Rough Riders.

It was a heavily converted unit, utilizing GW and Gamezone wolves, Secret Weapon bases and basing products, and of course Victoria Miniatures!

I used a variety of Victoria Miniatures kit pieces, mostly the Highland Moss Guard.  Victoria also has power lances designed for Rough Riders, so I had to make use of those!

It was a very fun unit, which was led be Mogul Khamir.  It actually wiped out a squad of Space Marines on the charge in the second game.

To make the sitting poses fit on the wolves, I made a saddle blanket, which did the trick.  It served dual purpose, as it allowed me to continue my tartan patterns onto these figures as well!

This was a very fun unit to create and paint.  Mr. Justin's fine urban rubble bases were perfect.  I added some tires to them, barbed wire, extra skulls, and more.

So, pay a visit to Victoria and Mr. Justin in the Dealer's room at Adepticon, or check out the figures here:

http://victoriaminiatures.highwire.com/

A commanding presence... Victoria Miniatures

Here's a command squad made from a variety of Victoria Miniatures.  As I mentioned in the previous posts, they are designed to be interchangeable from one type of squad to the next.

I believe I have a few blog posts showing how these were created in the Road to Adepticon 2014 series of articles.

Now let's set the scene, using that Secret Weapon ruined tank set.

It's so much fun to see these shots now!  I didn't have all of these items at the time the squad was first created...

This was definitely my favorite unit of the entire army that I made for the 2014 Adepticon tournament.

Let's go man the gates!

Here we go.  I had a lot of fun creating this set of fortress walls and bunkers.  It was part of my display board, but it was also my Aegis defense line!

There are lots of blog articles on this, and even a video that was part of the Painting Pyramid video series!

It was all made from foam and cereal boxes, with a little plasticard here and there.

The walls can be moved into any number of configurations, which made them fantastic for gaming!

There are long wall sections, shorts sections and angled pieces, as well as a second gate.

The Flak gun was also made from a variety of kits... even pink foam!

Standing guard... until Adeptricon 2015!

The Secret Saint

OK, time for more combinations of Secret Weapon figures, terrain, and much more.

In this image alone, we see old school GW Sisters, Urban Mammoth Archangels, Victoria Miniatures, and some crazy conversions... like Saint Celestine!

Even the standard bearer for the Sisters is another conversion, using some Empire Flagellant bits.

In this scene, we have some spectacular Secret Weapon ruined tanks.  Not only does it look fantastic, it make usable terrain!  You can even fit 30mm bases inside some of the wreckage. 

There are also a few pieces of Secret Weapon broken column basing materials on some of my bases.

You can see that the Ruined Tank can block line of sight, and provide some actual cover.

These miniatures are part of my Adepticon army that won the Best Painted last year.

You can see some of the Adepticon tournament army here:

http://wappellious.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-full-set.html

http://wappellious.blogspot.com/2014/04/cleansing-fire-sisters-of-raven.html

There are tons of conversions across the entire army.  Each squad had some, or the entirety of the squad was heavily converted.

This link shows the Serpahim;

http://wappellious.blogspot.com/2014/04/fly-girls.html

And some regular Imperial Guard:

http://wappellious.blogspot.com/2014/03/always-police-your-brass.html

And Celestine:

http://wappellious.blogspot.com/2014/03/it-takes-saint_20.html