... no not the Ork Battle Wagon!
Captain Consistent I am not. Yet again it's been far too long since I blogged, and frankly since I hobbied.
This time I have a defense; 14 months ago I headed back to school to retrain. Those of you that know me personally know that I'd been in academia, either as a researcher or an administrator for about 20 years. Once that came to an end I chose to go back to school.
I retrained as a Gas Turbine technician, and last summer graduated near the top of my class. In October I was fortunate enough to get hired into a company expanding from Montreal into Vancouver (I'm in Montreal training as I write this). Now with some stability and a pay check I'm back at the hobby!
Friday was the traditional (not for liking, just traditional!) panic registration for AdeptiCon, to secure the events you want, and the registration level you desire.
This year was no different from past ones; server crashes, huge lags, and items getting dropped from your cart before you had chance to pay for them!
Drama aside.... I got the Horus Heresy events I wanted! The singles tournament, a Zone Mortalis event, and the HH Grudge Match on the final day. I'm REALLY happy to be going back to AdeptiCon after missing it in 2017.
It's going to be awesome!
The next day my plan initiated; I had a Forgeworld "wish list" sitting there, goading me... I pulled the trigger and ordered an entire Horus Heresy Blood Angels army - 2500pts. Thank goodness I've been paid extra while training away from home...
So, hopefully in about 2 weeks I'll have an "army" to share with you.
Well, a large stack of resin in boxes...
Sunday, November 19, 2017
Saturday, April 16, 2016
Weathering in Style - Pt3
It has been a week since my last post, but I've not been slacking on the painting part..
After letting the model sit for the night I went back and beat up the top layer some more. I felt it was lacking damage - lol!
I also went into the larger areas and added some more SWM rust:
Then the fun began!
After a coating with gloss varnish (allowed to dry overnight), I started with oils.
Black, blue and brown oil paint was added in small dots, and then streaked down the model. This adds depth and tone to the overly bright metallic finish. It is a very messy process, but it is the one stage I enjoy the most.
Once that had dried, the next stage was adding pigments to simulate rust build up. I used the SWM powders of course! Four rust powders, and the Violet powder were used.
The violet is quite important as it add a certain patina to the finished result.
This process is very experimental and you need to play with the powders as you go along.
I also used the Exhaust Black on the exhausts (...).
Final stage was to seal with a matte varnish.
This picture has the body complete; the tracks need some highlighting, and the wheels (which I'll comment on next time) are in progress. You'll also note I added a dozer blade.
After letting the model sit for the night I went back and beat up the top layer some more. I felt it was lacking damage - lol!
I also went into the larger areas and added some more SWM rust:
Then the fun began!
After a coating with gloss varnish (allowed to dry overnight), I started with oils.
Black, blue and brown oil paint was added in small dots, and then streaked down the model. This adds depth and tone to the overly bright metallic finish. It is a very messy process, but it is the one stage I enjoy the most.
Once that had dried, the next stage was adding pigments to simulate rust build up. I used the SWM powders of course! Four rust powders, and the Violet powder were used.
The violet is quite important as it add a certain patina to the finished result.
This process is very experimental and you need to play with the powders as you go along.
I also used the Exhaust Black on the exhausts (...).
Final stage was to seal with a matte varnish.
This picture has the body complete; the tracks need some highlighting, and the wheels (which I'll comment on next time) are in progress. You'll also note I added a dozer blade.
Sunday, April 10, 2016
Weathering in Style - Pt2
After the night drying, it was time to put the base colours down. This is where I give a little something of my idea away.
My long time intent was to build an ork army that were obsessed with Iron Warriors; this is essentially the test model. Best part is, if I don't like it, it'll be fine; its metallic, and its orks!
First layer was Vallejo Model Air Gun Metal, followed by VMA Steel on higher points. It did this as the washes I'll be applying later will darken it up quite a bit.
I've had a few questions about airbrushing; the usual "how much do you dilute your paints?", "which brand of paint?", and "what pressure do you use?"
There really is only one answer to these questions; "yes" :).
Jokes aside, airbrushing is a very personal technique. This is what works for me:
then the work started...
Using light scratches to open up the paint, I applied water, and started rubbing with cotton buds.
At this point I'm always the least happy with the model; the base coat is too bright, and the scratches are too cartoonish. The next part will remedy that.
I had one issue with this stage. For whatever reason, some of the SWM acrylics I put down on the primer came up. I may not have allowed enough time for the Gun Metal to dry fully before starting the removal.
Nice thing is, I can go in and stipple some more paint on later!
If I get to that stage today, I'll post an update.
My long time intent was to build an ork army that were obsessed with Iron Warriors; this is essentially the test model. Best part is, if I don't like it, it'll be fine; its metallic, and its orks!
First layer was Vallejo Model Air Gun Metal, followed by VMA Steel on higher points. It did this as the washes I'll be applying later will darken it up quite a bit.
I've had a few questions about airbrushing; the usual "how much do you dilute your paints?", "which brand of paint?", and "what pressure do you use?"
There really is only one answer to these questions; "yes" :).
Jokes aside, airbrushing is a very personal technique. This is what works for me:
- Harder & Steenbeck Infinity
- 0.15mm needle (for pretty much everything...)
- 10-12 psi, though I'll go up to 15-20 for metallics
- dilute paints with 8% isopropyl alcohol
- paints used are Badger Minitaire, Vallejo Model Colour, Vallejo Model Air, P3, FW Airbrush paints, Scale75... and I guess we can now add Secret Weapon Miniatures!
then the work started...
Using light scratches to open up the paint, I applied water, and started rubbing with cotton buds.
At this point I'm always the least happy with the model; the base coat is too bright, and the scratches are too cartoonish. The next part will remedy that.
I had one issue with this stage. For whatever reason, some of the SWM acrylics I put down on the primer came up. I may not have allowed enough time for the Gun Metal to dry fully before starting the removal.
Nice thing is, I can go in and stipple some more paint on later!
If I get to that stage today, I'll post an update.
Saturday, April 9, 2016
Weathering in Style - Pt1
Hey all!
It has been a while - hit a bit of a painting funk late last year, and then got into intense mode with AdeptiCon 2016 prep.
The event was amazing as usual, but I'll post more about that later.
This post is about weathering - specifically a new line of Weathering Acrylic paints just released by our friend misterjustin at Secret Weapon Miniatures.
I've grabbed an old model, from a much delayed project, to try them out on, and of course I'm going to share my personal vision on a few of their many possible uses.
This Ork Battlewagon had a red and blue paint job - so I hit it with some rattle-can Rust-Red primer - which cost all of $3! The wheels and turrets were popped off first.
Then I started it with the SWM Weathering Acrylics. I have to say I've got a whole new respect for Reaper (who produced the paints for SWM); their pigments are phenomenal quality, and the medium always seems perfect.
I pushed these through my airbrush, so they needed diluting. Quite a lot too - lots of pigment packed in there. I have to give these paints an A* rating, just from the first set I've used. And I have to give big props to Justin; these are the rust colours that you troll through other lines to find single examples of, or spend ages trying to mix.
I don't have a colour-by-colour series, but they went on in the following order:
Chipping medium - light on the panels, heavy on the working surfaces - was then sprayed on. This is drying overnight.
Tomorrow I'll be doing some masking and starting the base colouring.
Stay tuned!
It has been a while - hit a bit of a painting funk late last year, and then got into intense mode with AdeptiCon 2016 prep.
The event was amazing as usual, but I'll post more about that later.
This post is about weathering - specifically a new line of Weathering Acrylic paints just released by our friend misterjustin at Secret Weapon Miniatures.
I've grabbed an old model, from a much delayed project, to try them out on, and of course I'm going to share my personal vision on a few of their many possible uses.
This Ork Battlewagon had a red and blue paint job - so I hit it with some rattle-can Rust-Red primer - which cost all of $3! The wheels and turrets were popped off first.
Then I started it with the SWM Weathering Acrylics. I have to say I've got a whole new respect for Reaper (who produced the paints for SWM); their pigments are phenomenal quality, and the medium always seems perfect.
I pushed these through my airbrush, so they needed diluting. Quite a lot too - lots of pigment packed in there. I have to give these paints an A* rating, just from the first set I've used. And I have to give big props to Justin; these are the rust colours that you troll through other lines to find single examples of, or spend ages trying to mix.
I don't have a colour-by-colour series, but they went on in the following order:
- Rust Shadow - this is quite green, so it went into areas where I wanted the darkest, oldest rust to be represented.
- Old Rust - this went over the Shadow, to add some purple/brown depth, and into panel recesses.
- Brown Rust
- Red Rust
- Orange Rust - these last three went on in a random-ish pattern, trying to break up the surface features, whilst trying to keep the lighter ones near the top.
Chipping medium - light on the panels, heavy on the working surfaces - was then sprayed on. This is drying overnight.
Tomorrow I'll be doing some masking and starting the base colouring.
Stay tuned!
Saturday, August 1, 2015
an oldie...
Found this picture (I still have the model boxed away).
From the original box set, using one of the "official" paint schemes from the WD poster.
From the original box set, using one of the "official" paint schemes from the WD poster.
Friday, June 26, 2015
OFCC Team tourney - Pt1 - Knight.
A few of you may recall me talking about this event previously.
The OFCC (Ordo Fanaticus Club Challenge) tourney is one of the PNW's premier events.
I've attended a number of times (I've actually lost count!), and had a really good time each one. I've also had some success there, being on one Overall Champion team, and one team that won the Best Sportsmanship award (which is named after, and dedicated to the to the memory of, one of the event founders - Marshall Johnson).
This year the event has been sweetened by the inclusion on the ITC list for 2015.
The organizers have also added an Open event, and a few Friday mini-tourneys. Sadly I can't attend these on Friday as I'll be returning from France a couple of days beforehand, and will be relying on my other Club's team Captain, Chris Jones, to drive me down to Vancouver, WA.
Whilst the 40K team event is well populated this year (21 teams of 4), it looks like the uncertainty around 9th edition Fantasy, and the mess that End Times made, that the WHFB side will be a little sparse this year - 9 teams last time I looked.
40K has not been without its controversies; the Head of Gaming (HoG) has removed all formal composition this year, so unbound armies, experimental rules, and multiple formations are allowed. The only caveat being that the army, an team's armies as a whole, need to be in the spirit of the event.
Sitting on whats' known as the "list Review Committee" has been quite educational about different region's perspectives on army builds; and I have a whole new respect for the HoG - I've not run a tourney since 5e!
My team does not have a theme this year (it was "death" last year), but as we are all taking Knights, from one source or another (including GK Dreadknights), I'm going with "Knights; F**k Yeah!"
I'm running the World Eaters that I took to AdeptiCon (they are almost finished...), with the addition of.... a Knight!
This is the Questoris Knight Styrix; probably the crappiest of the Knights!
It is not quite complete... but FW does not yet do decals for its Knightly Houses, and I don't have enough time to get custom ones done.
When I build out the Ad Mech side of my collection I'll add them.
The OFCC (Ordo Fanaticus Club Challenge) tourney is one of the PNW's premier events.
I've attended a number of times (I've actually lost count!), and had a really good time each one. I've also had some success there, being on one Overall Champion team, and one team that won the Best Sportsmanship award (which is named after, and dedicated to the to the memory of, one of the event founders - Marshall Johnson).
This year the event has been sweetened by the inclusion on the ITC list for 2015.
The organizers have also added an Open event, and a few Friday mini-tourneys. Sadly I can't attend these on Friday as I'll be returning from France a couple of days beforehand, and will be relying on my other Club's team Captain, Chris Jones, to drive me down to Vancouver, WA.
Whilst the 40K team event is well populated this year (21 teams of 4), it looks like the uncertainty around 9th edition Fantasy, and the mess that End Times made, that the WHFB side will be a little sparse this year - 9 teams last time I looked.
40K has not been without its controversies; the Head of Gaming (HoG) has removed all formal composition this year, so unbound armies, experimental rules, and multiple formations are allowed. The only caveat being that the army, an team's armies as a whole, need to be in the spirit of the event.
Sitting on whats' known as the "list Review Committee" has been quite educational about different region's perspectives on army builds; and I have a whole new respect for the HoG - I've not run a tourney since 5e!
My team does not have a theme this year (it was "death" last year), but as we are all taking Knights, from one source or another (including GK Dreadknights), I'm going with "Knights; F**k Yeah!"
I'm running the World Eaters that I took to AdeptiCon (they are almost finished...), with the addition of.... a Knight!
This is the Questoris Knight Styrix; probably the crappiest of the Knights!
It is not quite complete... but FW does not yet do decals for its Knightly Houses, and I don't have enough time to get custom ones done.
When I build out the Ad Mech side of my collection I'll add them.
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Throwback Thursday... coz all the kids are doing it!
Well, yes they are, but I'm taking pictures of all my armies... all week long... for many weeks!
These are from my first 40k army. Bought from the Third Edition box set, which I bought on advance order from GW Canada, back in later 1998...
Ultimately they were my first tournament army, playing them at the Seattle GT in 1999.
I've has a long time affinity with the Marines Errant, always thinking of them as a "knightly" Chapter with parallels to Arthurian legend.
In the first picture is a RT era Chaplain... yep it is old, and it is original - I still have the blister with the rest of them in (at one time GW sold them in packs of THREE!). The Command Squad uses old Dark Angel Veteran cloaked models - again metal.
The Chapter Icons are hand painted... all of them...
The pictures were taken on a photo-backdrop from Hangar 18; I obviously chose one to contrast. These are fantastic vinyl printed sheets, which come in a variety of colours, and are very tolerant to handling. You can find them here; they are an excellent investment.
The bases are quite dated (not just in size) so they are going to be upgraded shorty across the whole army.
I'm using the Dragon Forge Design Ancient Ruins II bases that I got in their recent Kickstarter campaign.
These are from my first 40k army. Bought from the Third Edition box set, which I bought on advance order from GW Canada, back in later 1998...
Ultimately they were my first tournament army, playing them at the Seattle GT in 1999.
I've has a long time affinity with the Marines Errant, always thinking of them as a "knightly" Chapter with parallels to Arthurian legend.
In the first picture is a RT era Chaplain... yep it is old, and it is original - I still have the blister with the rest of them in (at one time GW sold them in packs of THREE!). The Command Squad uses old Dark Angel Veteran cloaked models - again metal.
The Chapter Icons are hand painted... all of them...
The pictures were taken on a photo-backdrop from Hangar 18; I obviously chose one to contrast. These are fantastic vinyl printed sheets, which come in a variety of colours, and are very tolerant to handling. You can find them here; they are an excellent investment.
The bases are quite dated (not just in size) so they are going to be upgraded shorty across the whole army.
I'm using the Dragon Forge Design Ancient Ruins II bases that I got in their recent Kickstarter campaign.
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