'nids part 380 - Leviathan Tyranids - Chitin highlights 1

Afternoon #Warhammer Community I've been #PaintingWarhammer on the remains of my Leviathan box set Tyranids. Chitin highlights and I am starting to doubt this is doable by the end of the hobby season. With these done there are 61 steps left to do, 4 of which are the second set of highlights and as part 1 took me 6 days to do I suspect a similar timeframe for part 1. 

That leave me with about 20-23 days to do the remaining 57 steps. 

That's more than 2 things being ticked off a night, with no nights off and that just doesn't seem achievable.

I could be wrong. There's 4 steps to the red [on the 4 different units] and they could be done in one or two sessions.  

16 things to do in such a short time would change the dynamic significantly.

However, I've listed the black highlights as three step and I know it's actually 4 so there are still obstacles to overcome.

I really need to get the next turquoise highlights out of the way and then I'll have a better idea.

It's still doable, and I don't think I'm going to give in just yet, but we'll have to see.

I do have some holiday time at the moment, so who knows I may get some morning sessions in.

So, a quick push to get the next lot of highlights.

But these are definitely starting to look a bit cooler, now they have more detail on.

I just want to be done with 'nids for a while so I can get my Cerastus back on track and my Warlord Titans ready for #DreadTober

Belated 10th Anniversary of the birth of the Man Cave

Afternoon #WarHamFam and #WarhammerCommunity I've had my man cave for 10 years now, it was originally installed on 27th July 2015. I just missed the anniversary even though I knew I had to finish this post.

Although I 'promised' a new coat of paint this year that's going to be put on hold until 2026 I think. Instead I do plan to paint the roof. I found a leak I in the ceiling earlier this year. Although it has not leaked again since I'm worried what is happening. Now, a rubber roof might be the sensible choice, but it was over £100 and I was going to have to fit it myself. The adverts say it's easy and can be done in an hour. But for the same effort and £30 I can 'paint' it with Cromapol. It's an acrylic resin with fibreglass fibres in it. It's really thick, you have to use a trowel to apply it, but I have to do my outbuilding roof as well so having two tins means I will have plenty spare. I'm thinking it will definitely make it waterproof. My only concern is how it'll handle heat expansion. But, if it doesn't work I can do the rubber roof next year.

I've had a blog post in draft for years that I finally felt I could repurpose to cover this anniversary, so forgive me if it seems rambling [but when isn't my blog?]:

I think it's well documented that the 'hobby' can be an amazing source of good for the mental health of many people. Overall the calm reflective time we each spend painting toy soldiers or the social aspect of gaming with friends both old and newly discovered can really help people. It's a vehicle for interaction that some might otherwise struggle with, a shared experience and background that is a perfect conversation starter. Painting can help soothe a troubled mind and the joy of completing a model or even just getting an eye right for once, creates a wonderful sense of satisfaction. To be part of such a community, and on the whole it is supportive [although it has toxic elements like any group], is a blessing; and Games Workshop being the largest company deserves a lot of credit for helping to spread that well-being.

However, I have an obsessive personality, bordering on addiction. Thankfully it doesn't stretch to the substances that cause genuine damage to your life but when I become interested in something I'm all in. I've had a number of extreme passions in my life, Citadel miniatures possibly being my first, my favourite band - Pitchshifter second, and thirdly when I was practicing kendo. Thankfully there wasn't much of an overlap in these obsessions - I went to uni, so I couldn't game but discovered kendo. I came home and stopped kendo but had more freedom to see Pitchshifter in their prime. I started kendo again and then had to stop, rediscovering the hobby to fill the void and then Pitchshifter went on hiatus.

Now I am all in on the hobby. For a decade and a half I've been building, painting, gaming, blogging and thinking about the hobby almost constantly. It is all-consuming. As my passion grew it took over our back-room until I had to move out into the man-cave. But it had caused significant friction leading up to that point and spending around £1200+ on a hobby shed seemed an extreme length to go to, to further my toy soldier obsession. Of course I rationalised the cost with the fact we would end up with a proper dining room, but that took another 2 years to get done! I also figured a Warlord Titan cost about the same and this was definitely a better investment.

So, with a dedicated home to paint in and slightly more organised approach the man cave was a fine purchase. Add in lockdown and home working and it would become absolutely invaluable. According to Solid Sheds, they have a lifespan of 15 years, so I have something of a 'ticking clock' going to try to stave off the inevitable. It definitely deserves a tidy up, if not a repaint. Here's to keeping it going!

'nids part 379 - Leviathan Tyranids - Washes and bone 1

Afternoon #Warhammer Community I've been #PaintingWarhammer on the remains of my Leviathan box set Tyranids. Here are the shade washes. You could probably achieve this with a Contrast nowadays, without the previous base colour. That would have saved me 16 minutes per Termagant (5 hours and 20 minutes). But I am compelled by the process.

The Vallejo dipping washes I use occasionally leave a similar dusty residue that Seraphim Sepia does. So I mixed in some water and Army Painter Quickshade Wash Medium.

I think this solved the issue and actually created a nice finish, particularly on the blue areas.

It's less of an issue at this stage as a lot of these areas are painted over anyway.

But it's good to have solved an issue that can occur when I'd prefer it not to.

Now the hard yards. It was around 9 minutes each to do the bone highlights on the Termagants.

3 hours to get these done and once again my skill with the brush is being called into question. I do wish I had better control, or showed any signs of improvement.

But I think subconsciously I've just become more comfortable with 'good enough'.

That said the Neurogaunts only take about 5 minutes each (55 mins for the 11 figures)

Back to the Barbgaunts and we already know this is a 15 minute job. 

In fact according to my records I know that it'll take me 6 hours and 20 minutes to get the bone and turquoise highlights done.

 I still have the reds, black, any details like teeth, eyes, glow FX, bases and then varnishes on top

It's helpful, but also daunting. Despite the time estimate, which is clearly doable before the end of the hobby season, I have 68 elements to do to get all of the Tyranids done.

But I only have 36 days to do it [not including nights when I can't paint] and I can't imagine ticking off nearly 2 elements a session.

So what seemed like a shoe-in - remember when I thought I'd be able to paint the Kill Team Typhon box as well?

I'm now beginning to doubt I'll get them done in time. Particularly as I have some other non-hobby projects to do before the end of the month.

Well, we'll just have to have our fingers crossed 🤞, hope for the best 🙏 and crack on where we can 🖌

Von Ryan's Leapers have got 4 hours 12 on the clock to go too! 😫

#MESBG Middle Earth Goblin Town Terrain - TO DONE! 🟤

Afternoon #Warhammer Community I've been #PaintingWarhammer on my Middle Earth Goblin Town goblins and terrain they're all TO DONE! More specifically the display board, made from a cheap cork pin-board.

But I thought I'd put them all together to showcase what I achieved.

I may not have initially got quite the euphoria from finishing these like I did their inspiration - the poxwalkers.

But seeing them like this I was really satisfied with the result - 'finished not perfect'.

I'm not quite sure how I appear to expect so much more from myself while also reaching a level of acceptance that this is as good as I get.

It's like zen self-awareness coupled with self-flagellation. 

I may yet add some tufts to these at some point, just for a bit of extra details. 

But everything that worried me when observing them close-up in isolation seems to have been resolved now I see them in context with each other. 

The green bits on the Goblin Town platforms are less noticeable with all the Goblins on top of it.

And seeing all the Goblins together it feels like such a significant undertaking any individual reservations don't seem so important any more.

Now, with all the MESBG minis out of the way it's time to get back to my Leviathan Tyranids. 40 more models to batch paint in one final push for the end of the season.

Another Great Big Wooden Stamp of Approval.

Battle record - Bolt Action 2 - 10/07/25

Afternoon #Warhammer Community I've been trying out different game systems with a game of Bolt Action. I have very little recollection of what happened, so, it's a battle record.

Stug trying to outflank

Not a tank arrives from reserve.

Targets Stug, fires, no more Stug! 💥

Field gun with 3 pin markers

Field gun with no pin markers thanks to an 'insane bravery' test! 😎