Something really stinks...

Here is something from a while back that has gotten lost in all the frenzy of the last 9-12 months.

This particular FW item had an interesting quality to it, or lack thereof.  I had to resculpt at least 30% of this... from scratch.  The 'tail' section was gone... non existent.  Knowing that other instances led to either getting the wrong replacement part, or the same of something that I didn't need (you will hear more on that this week), I just went ahead and sculpted the part that was missing.

The trend in FW has grown more and more disturbing.  I don't know if demand is stretching them even thinner, which might be the case, but they won't get any more demand from me.  I heard many similar horror stories at Adepticon.

When it takes me less time to make something from scratch than it does to assemble the actual kit, that might be a signal that something is amiss in the production process.  We already have a Finecast ban in place.  That is why we have been moving further and further away from GW stuff in general.

I am sorry that this post is a somewhat petulant affair, but this morning's FW extravaganza has me wanting to toss that poo all over the room...

By the way, it was also much easier to paint the section that I sculpted.  These views show that back 30% quite well.  It starts from the rotors backwards.

A bit of "Punky" terrain at the Wandering Dragon

Now it's time for a little painting session at the Wandering Dragon Shoppe.  Most of you will recognize this terrain I put together for them right before we got nailed by the Norovirus.  It has been waiting for some paint, and that's what I did the other day.

This was going to be a very basic paint job here, since there was not a lot of time.  I used the same craft paints that I work with on the Dark Eldar army board.  The only difference was that I tossed in a few metallic paints here and there :-)

You can look through the older Terrain posts to see how I made these.  It was fairly basic.  Some pink foam  and empty pill containers.  I made the rivets with some plasticard and a hole punch.

I worked quickly with a big brush to make the various pieces have a coat of brownish black...

I have a few shots here of each terrain piece as I did this.  The main use for this terrain would be on Tuesdays for the Privateer Press game night.  That means Warmachine and Hordes!

While most terrain pieces look a little odd before they are painted, these guys were nothing less than bizarre!

However, one has to have faith in the Plan. :-)  Be confident that something silly looking like this...

Transforms itself quickly by just doing this...

It was really neat to see these turn into somethings else before your eyes!

At this point, I started to add in some metallic paint to that black and brown mix.

While I was painting the steampunk terrain, I slapped some colors on a few regular rocky outcroppings

More to come!!!

Metal and resin everywhere!

OK, taking a break from filing and prepping dozens of Painting Pyramid miniatures.  There is a pile of metal shavings that is at least a half an inch high.  I have washed my hands 3 times, and they are that wonderful shade of blueish grey once again!

Lots of Reaper minis, but also a healthy dose of Raging Heroes.  Many more of those are on the way, including some very special figures that will be used for the gold/copper/brass videos.

I have also been prepping some of the CMON big cirtters as well.  Speaking of washing, I have lots of resin to clean off later this weekend. :-)

Phil is here next to me prepping a bunch of his Blood Bowl figs.  He'll have at least 2 full teams ready to go.

Tomorrow we will see some images of terrain painting at the Wandering Dragon!  Stay Tuned!

Pondering the future...

I will be wrapping up some of the Dark Eldar coverage in the next week or two with more images of the finished vehicles that I did not have time to shoot prior to Adepticon, as well as some images of the army on the board.

Looking ahead towards future Adepticon, I am trying to lay out a framework for the next army.  It would definitely involve the Raging Heroes female Imperial Guard.  Depending on what is available, it might either be all IG, or a mixture of IG and Sisters of Battle.

I already have a ton of SOB that are prepped, based, and even partially painted.  It would be a blast to scratch build Exorcist tanks and such. :-)  This would dramatically reduce the amount of time it would take to make the army ready for Adepticon as well.

I also have a story and an army board idea to go with it.  The board would be a 'cutaway' of a hive city, where the poor districts are "down below", and the convent of the Sisters is in the clouds.  Essentially, they recruit among the members of this all female IG army, taking only the ones which they feel are most worthy of serving.

There are a few practical elements here.  Judging by what happened in the tourney this year, I need more minis (preferably those with 3+ saves) and armies that can benefit from bringing their own terrain along with them.  And tanks.

The vehicles provide lots of scratch building opportunities, which makes any army a lot more fun, and customizable.

Getting back on track

Let's return to the main event!

The painting of the arena is basically done, so there are some details that need to be taken care of.

Such as the pillars!  A nice big batch of pillars.  There were a few colors laid on on the palette... a light a middle tone and a dark.  Working quickly, I rotated the pillar in one hand as the brush moved across it with the other.  I was able to keep the paint wet enough that I could blend the colors together right on the surface.

The track is now fully painted, and the Emperor's platform is now in place.  There is a metal sheet on there, for structural stability and strong magnetic hold.

There was one other element that platform was supposed to hold (and hide), and that was one of my under-cabinet lights.  This would get some light on the inside of the arena in the darkness of the tournament room.

Ironically, the room would be even darker as day turned into night with the extreme storms.

You can also see the finishing post in place for the first time.  The wolf statue and the column were both magnetized.

Just about ready to get the columns glued in place.

Before the upper levels could be glued in, I had to do some freehand work.

And here it is.  You can see the mosaic and the patterns drawn out on a few of the surfaces.  Look familiar? It is on as many of the bases as I could replicate, particularly the troops and bikes, etc.  

I used a permanent marker to create it, which was perfect.  It would have been extremely difficult to work out with a brush, given all the walls that would make the angle very awkward.  Time was also very short, and this took no time at all!

With the freehand complete, the upper level could finally be put in place!!

There was more freehand that I would have liked to try, but nobody would have seen it.  I sort of learned that lesson on the Tomb Kings board.

Check it out!!  The painting is done.  I added some flock to this to get a hint of colors that were not present on the board.  It also gave a bit of texture.  I will try and get some images of the army on the board for you.

My plan is to put the army on here again, and take some video.  A little practice using the microphone for voice overs.  I don't expect to do that very much for the painting videos, but I want to be ready just in case. :-)

A brief interlude...

I am going to step away from the painting the the Basilica Canus for the moment.  I was able to dig up all the images I could from the WFB tournament and process them.

There are not as many as I would have liked, but let's just say that some of the rounds were finished in a prompt fashion.  In a game where 1st or 2nd turn wipeouts are common, things like this can happen.

Here are a few shots of the army on the board right after I walked into the room...

This is the only shot I have of game one.  The Heirophant died on the first shot of the first turn, the skull catapult blew itself up on my first turn, and it was all downhill from there.  There is some kind of magic banner for the orcs that negates ALL magic items, which lead to the King getting wiped out easily in one turn.  That was the clincher.

The next game was the only one of the tournament to go more than 4 turns.  It was also the only victory for the Tainted Pharaoh.  This one was vs Ogres, as you can see.

There were some pretty dramatic instances of catastrophic rolls for the Ogres, which ultimately lead to their downfall.  Lots of whiffs on critical charges, leadership tests, and so on.  The biggest early moment was the casket taking out the mounted cannon of the ogres, which allowed the Heirotitan to survive.  You will see how important that was later...

The card in the middle of the table behind the chariot unit was the other big game changer.  I was able to get the Speed of Light spell on various units all game long.  This was vital in keeping them around.  Before this set of games, the secondary priest was always a Death Mage.  Of course, one has to be fortunate enough to roll that spell, and so on, even at level 4.

An example of Speed of Light in action.  You will also notice the Titan on the left engaging the big monster near the casket.  That purse fight would continue for at least 3 turns.

Sneaky snakes vs some fat guys...

King of the hill!

This view shows very few ogres.  Where the casket (and several other units and monsters) used to be is a big void.  That's what can happen when the casket blows up, as it did.  Everything in a 12 inch radius gets nailed with D6 S6 hits, no armor saves of any kind.  That blast took out the Titan, a bunch of ogres, and the Stonetusk!

This win put the TK at table 30, against lizards.  Unfortunately, there was not much that TK can do against them, given the leadership characteristics of the scaley folk.  They failed very few checks, while the TK failed lots of LD 10 restraint rolls, and so on.  I believe I failed 3 in a row at one point on a single turn.

This lead to the Tomb Kings being in very bad spots, and thus losing the game.

This was an interesting item which a loyal Wappellian brought up to me when the day was done.  Some of you might recognize this as the skirmisher base for my chameleon skinks.

However, this was not made by me!  This was created by a blog follower using one of the step by step tutorials!  How cool is that?