Workbench update

I've been away on a mini holiday this week which has halted my painting efforts. I wasn't going to let a holiday completely put me off modelling however and I picked up a WH40K Space Marine rhino on the way down to our cottage.

It rained a lot while we were there (not that we cared!) but that gave me plenty of time to assemble and customise my first armoured transport. My number one tac squad will be rolling around inside this one and she has extra armour, smoke launchers and a pintle mounted storm bolter already installed. I've assembled the roof with the option of running it as a razorback with las cannons when I need a bit more punch as you can see.

Since I've been back I have managed to get some painting done though and I've finished another ten scouts. This gives me enough for two five man assault squads with heavy bolters plus a five man sniper squad. Cory has a couple of spare scouts which I'll customise a bit so I can run a ten man assault squad as an alternative.

Things are moving along nice and quick at the moment. Next up will be some more work on my armour, some terminators and possibly the dev squad. I reckon I should be able to get to 2000pts within another month or so. Not bad for a project I hadn't planned on touching 4 weeks ago...

Cheers,
Millsy

SAGA Scots Hearthguard Complete!

Well, it took a little longer than I would have liked (I plead a shortage of decent matt varnish and excessively rainy weather), but the 2 points of Scots Hearthguard for my SAGA warband are now complete.

The basing, shields and varnishing are all done, and (for better or worse) here's the result.

All that tartan can be a headache to paint, but I'd like to think that perseverance has paid off in this instance. The Plain Thane (lower pic, second from left) is now not so plain; I thought I'd keep the red cloak and give it a decorative border in black and gold to reflect his high status. Not quite Book of Kells standard Celtic knotwork, but what the hey, close enough for the wargames table! The only downside is that I'm now going to have to make the Warlord look really splendid so that he stands out like the proverbial.

The shield transfers are by Little Big Men Studios, and I have to say that not only is their graphic design first-rate, with a nice weather-beaten look, but they are ludicrously easy to work with. They do give a nice finishing touch to a figure, and I plan on using more of the transfers on my next warband.

Next up, I have to complete the 12 remaining warriors for the warband, and then figure out what to do about the warlord.

Stay tuned!

Cheers,

Ev

Workbench update

Work continues at a slightly slower pace on my home grown Space Marine chapter. Still, any progress is progress! This time it's a 10 man Blood Angel tactical squad with missile launcher and flamer. These haven't been based yet as I'm waiting to finish a larger batch of troops before I bother.

The colour of the bases is a clear indication of these guys having been stripped of their previous paint job. From memory these were in an *awful* state, with paint so thick you could barely see the detail. It was so bad I'm thinking of opening a branch of the ISPCSM to help out their brothers. Anyone? Anyone?

Next up is another 10 scouts...

And that's it for the workbench at present. My enthusiasm seems to be rekindled which is great. Last night I even ordered an extra 3pts worth of Anglo-Danes for SAGA and a bunch of basing material from Tajima1. I'd best push on with the scouts and make sure they're done before the mailman arrives.

Lastly, welcome to Ken, Ben B. and Andrew J. McCory who have joined us recently.

Cheers,
Millsy

Angelicus Mechanicus - WH40K Space Marine Successor Chapter

About a week ago Russ suggested we play Warhammer 40K for our long weekend game, and rather than our usual "big bash" we should play some small skirmish style games. We agreed on 500pts and that was that. Or was it?

At this point I started thinking about my Necrons and how I *seriously* needed a break from them. On top of my lack of enthusiasm for playing my Necrons again I've also been suffering from a massive attack of figure painting apathy, clearly evident in all the terrain I've been making of late. So why not put all this to good use? Time to get working on a project I've been planning for a loooong time but never gotten round to executing - my own successor Space Marine chapter.

So here they are below. 8 days worth of painting later we have 650 or so points of Space Marines. There are plenty more to come. Everyone will have the Adeptus Mechanicus symbol on his shoulder if at all possible and everyone will have a red or green theme where appropriate.

Firstly, a Reclusiarch with jump pack and a 5 marine assault squad, also with jump packs.

Next up, a 5 man scout squad.

And a 10 man tactical squad.

And finally, a (badly flash burnt dang it!) dreadnought.

And now, in the Emperor's name it's fluff time...

[Fluff] *
Angelicus Mechanicus is spawned from two of the main Space Marine chapters, the Dark Angels and the Blood Angels. Within the ranks of each chapter are marines with a divergent gene which give them an affinity with all things mechanical. Initially it was feared these rogue marines would need to be cleansed from the gene pool, however the Adeptus Mechanicus offered them a home in the form of it's own new military arm. Given the heritage of the marines forming the chapter, it was named the Angelicus Mechanicus.
[/Fluff]

* Disclaimer: That's all the thinking I've done or am likely to ever do. I like painting Space Marines, especially the old skool metal ones. I like red. I like green. I like the Adeptus Mechanicus symbol. I don't pretend it makes sense. I don't pretend it fits well with any other fluff or the universe. If you are a massive GW fanboy and want to have a rant about how none of this makes sense or could never happen then feel free to leave now. ;-)

As is always the case I learnt a few lessons along the way:

1. Don't assume those funky big mechanicus shoulder pads with allow you to glue a backpack on when all the painting is done. You might just have to trim them down with scalpel at them same time as not trimming yourself. All ten of them. Without cutting yourself or damaging your paint job. You idiot.
   
2. Don't think you can drill and pin all the arms and weapons in ten minutes. It will take at least 15 minutes per miniature no matter what you think.

That's it for now. Thanks for popping by...

Cheers,
Millsy

SAGA Scots Hearthguard - WIP

Clearly, something has stung me into action in recent days. I've ended up with 2pts of Hearthguard close to completion on the workbench. Started Friday afternoon, and it's Saturday night.

Now, before any of you ask, "Who are you and what have you done with Ev?" remember that this is only eight figures, not based or varnished, nothing too flash. So let's take a look at how it all panned out...

This is the one with the most work left to do - I call him the Plain Thane, since I haven't sorted exactly what sort of tartan he's going to end up with. Not really sure about the cloak, either; red might be a bit garish, but then again it is a good colour for a high status individual. So he's on the back burner for the moment.

Here's the hornblower - quite pleased with this one.

 

...and the rest of the thanes. I've decided to try a few brighter and more complex plaids to reflect the high status of these warriors. Once they're based up and varnished, I think they'll scrub up quite nicely.

So where did this sudden (admittedly modest) burst of activity come from? Well, I've been looking around here and at other blogs, seeing what they've got on the boil, and frankly, some of it is astounding. Monty over at Twin Cities Gamer has just finished some cracking Norse-Gael raiders for SAGA, C&G's own Millsy is recreating the Kingdom of Mercia in his games room, while the estimable Mr Awdry over at 28mm Victorian Warfare has been producing vignettes whose composition and conception are truly amazing.

The motivator here has been shame, pure and simple; while these exemplars of the hobby, and thousands of others just like them, toil selflessly to inspire sluggards like myself, I've been sitting on my worthless backside doing sod all. Until now, that is.

So here's a big thank you to all the lads and lasses across the blogosphere whose manifold efforts have served to rouse me from my torpor with the best of examples. I certainly wouldn't have done this without you!

Cheers,
Evan