A decade of confession

Afternoon #warmongers and #warhammercommunity It's my #blogaversary and somehow I've been at this for a decade. What can I say? I'll  start with the bad, because there has to be some negatives in all of this. Thankfully it's just the one - it is so much harder to blog now than it ever was. With the weight of all these years I know what feels right for me to type but 'new' Blogger is frustrating to use now. And I have to keep getting out my son's old laptop to do it, which is an inconvenience and another reason to put off typing something up.

On the plus side, although I think blogs are far less popular than they used to be, I think I'm seeing a move by the community to embrace the opportunities they provide. Other platforms, like twitter, have become massively popular but I think hobbyists are seeing the benefit of being able to curate their own space, without all the hassles that a fully open platform brings.

Of course I'm not in this for popularity. Numbers are always nice and although I once would have loved to achieve that elusive 40k views in a month, I'm just happy to get a post out, regardless of who sees it. Here's my graph, which is purely for the other bloggers to see how things have fluctuated over the years. 

So, despite the challenges of blogging that I face, I still really enjoy the process. Getting to write things down, having a body of work 10 years in the making - the figures, the conversions, scratchbuilds, all of it and recording as much of the process as possible... I never thought I could achieve such a thing. 3.5 million words when last I ran a word count tool, probably nearer to 4 million now!

For all those who have come along for the ride, whether it be the beginning of the decade or even now at the start of the next, thank you for sharing my hobby. Being there when I need support, putting up with my inability to edit and be brief and for commenting about the little things I paint that you find worthy. Thanks for justifying the time and effort in keeping the blog going, you make it all worthwhile! 😻

'nids part 293 - Tyrannofex #Dreadtober week3

Afternoon #warmongers and #warhammercommunity I've been #paintingwarhammer Tyranid Tyrannofex for #DreadTober week 3. I'm not entirely sure how I'm doing this, maybe it's the deadline but I'm pushing on through with this beast.

All the highlights on the bone and turquoise are all complete. 

I've been in and tidied up all the reds with Khorne Red.

Crisp striations on all the bone. Yes it's quite odd that I've gone all in on fibrous look of the bone compared to my original Tyranids 10 years ago.

That said the smaller creatures remain simply highlighted on the bone, as there's not enough room for all the lines.

Rupture Cannon is also ready.

And moving on I did the Adrenal Glands.

I'd debated with myself about adding some red shading around where the symbiote is attached to the Tfex.

But I should have known that it would look significantly better with that transition, as if the gland was pumping adrenaline into the surrounding area.

I would describe this as a triumph. It totally lifted it to another level. Not necessarily in my skills, just in the overall finish of the model.

I was pretty confident in that I could do it, I'd just questioned whether I should for the piece.

 

I mixed some red wash with Khorne Red to get the deep colour. Ordinarily it's too milky and I needed something between my Tamiya ClearRed X-27 and thinned Vermilion craft acrylic.

It then prompted me to consider the colour of the vent glow. My first Tervigon is without glow. I hadn't introduced it into the palette, apart from its tongue.

The second one was the lime green.

I was considering at this point to do it it red [to white] just for something different. But I know how difficult the red glow can be [my Ravenwing headlamps are sketchy]. I asked a couple of hobby luminaries [Greg and Marcelis] who both agreed to go with green, so that's what I'm doing.

That may prompt me to go back and do the green glow on my first Tervigon eventually, we'll see. For now, here's my progress diary, this was pretty much up-to-date. I think the next Monday session has the Adrenals. I was still panicking at this stage whether I could get it done in time...

#PitOnParade Skaven 'prodder' Big Build - TO DONE!

Afternoon #warmongers and #warhammercommunity I've been #paintingwarhammer Skaven prodder for #PitOnParade. Dr Dave is creating a #ArmiesOnParade board for charity. It's some 40k weird fighting pit and I had this Skaven Rat Ogre handler from the Islands of Blood set just knocking around. I know it's fantasy [and probably should have been converted] but it pretty much works in a 40k setting too with that prodding device. So I based it up.

And got some base colours on. I need to keep it simple. I've still got my #DreadTober commitment so it's tough balancing the two with similar deadlines.

His robes will be painted similar to my Blood Bowl Nurgle trousers - Burnt Umber art acrylic. He'll be an albino with brown leather straps and then weathered prodding stick.

Hopefully I can find time to fit him in, perhaps once the bulk of the Tfex is done, with just the reds, talons and FX to do. Essentially I need it done this week to get in the post... 😲

Until then I get a Great Big Granite Big Build Stamp of Approval. 

'nids part 292 - Tyrannofex #Dreadtober week2 pt2

Afternoon #warmongers and #warhammercommunity I've been #paintingwarhammer Tyranid Tyrannofex for #DreadTober week 2. I was seriously flagging after the first set if of turquoise highlights, so much so I didn't take any pictures of it. I was half way through at the half way stage. And yet that half way point doesn't include all the details, FX and varnishing!

So despite the enormity of what remained I cracked on with the turquoise highlights. I even broke out my Army Painter Insane Detail brush to get some fine striations. Unfortunately it just won't hold its point. I don't know whether it's the brush, or the paint that makes the point eventually get splayed. Water helps bring the point back but this paint does not like watering down. The surface tension complete breaks and it'll bleed everywhere. So it's quite a challenge to achieve the opacity I want in the sizes the brush will allow.

And there are all those difficult bits to get to round the vents. I know sometimes it's like painting with my eyes closed, reaching in and hoping the line isn't too splodged on. It was quite the challenge and perseverance to get to this stage and even though there's less to paint it take's only  little less time to do it. Granted I've got the first highlights as an indication of where to put the second but it requires patience and steady hands not to just obscure all the first coat with the second!

But I did it and got the Rupture Cannon done too.

As well as a Khorne red highlight on all the fleshy bits.

Acid Spray also got highlighted.

Chitin and the first bone highlights.

Which was also applied to the Fleshborer Hives [Devourers with Brainleech].

Bone highlights next, so long as the paint lasts... 😩

'nids part 291 - Tyrannofex #Dreadtober week2

Afternoon #warmongers and #warhammercommunity I've been #paintingwarhammer Tyranid Tyrannofex for #DreadTober week 2. OK, I know we're onto week 3 now but it's challenging getting all this blogged up. So I'm onto the turquoise bits and I've got the legs and tail done.

This is the easy bit, it's the carapace, mainly the vents that get  wearisome as I'm fast remembering.

I really hate those vents, when I've got some of the paint left over I'm doing the no brainer items, like the top of the vents and ridges. All the other striations require some thought how the shapes fit together and interact with the shape of the part of the model they're on.

I also got some of the bone highlights finished on weapons too. It's easy to forget these need doing as well and they're big pieces too. They're bigger than Tyranid Warriors for example! 

I'm beginning to have doubts about completing the task now. I'm also a little distracted because I wanted to do something for the #PitOnParade community thing and it would have been nice to get my Servo Haulers done for my own #ArmiesOnParade but I don't think that's realistic in the remaining time.

'nids part 290 - Tyranid Termagants

Afternoon #warmongers and just prior to #DreadTober I had been #paintingwarhammer on some 5 Devgaunts. I'd totally given up on forcing myself to get the Land Raider done and just went back to what I knew - Tyranids.

Now this may have been a mistake, my #DreadTober pledge was the Tyrannofex and it might have been easy to get bored of painting my 'nid scheme having done these.

Luckily I did not 'focus' on these and was doing them alongside some other bits and it felt very easy to get from the washes and first teal highlight through to the second turquoise and first bone highlight.

I also managed to do all the black claws, hooves and talons. This was all a by-product of the Rippers. As there are only 5 of them it wasn't too hard to just paint them together. Obviously the bone is a little more substantial so that's why it's not quite complete but it won't take much for the 2nd coat.

I also highlighted all the Adrenal Glands, again these are only for unit markings. I went a little more extreme shading/highlights on the Devourers for when the Tamiya Clear Red X-27 goes on.

It won't make a difference to my previous painted Devgaunts but I did want these to be the blueprint for future gaunts, not that I have any intention of getting anymore.

'nids part 289 - Tyrannofex #Dreadtober week1 pt2

Afternoon #warmongers and #warhammercommunity I've been #paintingwarhammer Tyranid Tyrannofex for #DreadTober week 1 and I'm cracking on with the bone. At this stage I wasn't paying too much attention to what I was doing each session but I think I recalled it all when I started on the chitin in the next update.

I was also beginning to regret a little bit that the model was glued together. Of course it's not glued to the base and that helps to get underneath but it's still a little awkward to paint.

But getting the pose right wouldn't have been possible if everything was painted and I was gluing it together at the end.

I'm not sure if having all the pieces separate is the best way, it was certainly easier last time when I did the Tervigon. 

I have got my Tervigon out for reference which is helping me make decisions.

The lines of bone to add texture is a lot better than my previous Tervigons, although the tail has some very ropey bits, luckily hidden from view [which explains why they were difficult to paint].

I got a bit giddy in some places with the bone, caught the blue areas which is a nightmare to fix. 

I think I just added some black wash in places to try and obscure the mistake and hope the turquoise obscure the fact it's not even blue.

Quite pleased with all the different colours. I'm running out of my bone 2nd highlight mix. I think it's be Citadel Pallid Witch Flesh now, previously I just mixed a pot but I'm even running out of white it's been so long since I bought paints.

Anyway, teal and turquoise next.