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!

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...

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. 

Suckin' it on the battlefield, kickin' in the display case!

Here's a look at a few of my Crystal Brush winners.  As you can see, this year it was three silvers and a bronze.  That makes twelve overall for me.

I took bronze in the Fantasy unit. 

I ended up using my Tomb King horseman until,  since there is still a ten miniature limit. 

That does eliminate a lot of units for me.  You don't simply 'pick out' ten from a unit designed to be double or triple that. 

Now for some close ups.

You can see much more of these guys in the Tomb King section! 

One last view.

And for the silver in the monster category. 

The king's Warsphinx!

It was very satisfying to have two more units from the army win awards!  That makes four total.

I also won a silver for Dark age, and another for Rivet Wars.    Many thanks to Elizabeth,  Curtis,  Jen and Jonathan for all their hard work! 

Sister approved!

Here are some interior shots of the Cathedral.  You can see a little more of the statuary in these views.

Once again, the statues were there as objective markers, but they are also intended to tell the story of the army.  It begins with a Bronze Age Celtic technology, working all the way up to the 41st millenium tech.

I will make a post on those statues soon so you get a better idea of how they worked.

The statues arranged, and the Sisters in place.

While my original intent was to paint some green marble on a few of the wall struts, I am glad that I did not do so.  It probably would have been too much of a visual frenzy.

The other small details that I wanted to add were some hanging banners and a few of the old metal cherubs for effect.  I had some servo skulls as well, but time just ran out.

Also, I thought that I would have that many more fragile, breakable bits to worry about!

As it was, the statues were all magnetized to the floor, and the LED lights were very firmly stuck into the ceiling.

And the Sororitas demonstrated their approval by guarding the Cathedral as I went to put stuff in the Crystal Brush!  Results on that later...

Hanging out in the Wild West Exodus booth with Jonathan and Elizabeth!  A fun time, and hopefully batches of those minis showing up on the blog here.  Big trains... lots of steampunk :-)