Sitting doing nothing

So, the wife is on a night shift and I've had to fore go kendo. Last night I had a thoroughly dissatisfying brawl with some space elves on Dark Crusade so I feel I should not get back on that horse tonight but I have zero enthusiasm for painting. This is all procrastination mind... I've even got some Milliput so I could finally crack on with the Mycetic Spore and Helion Rain to listen to whilst sculpting/painting.

I've experienced this lethargy many times before. In the creative world this sensation often crops up like a willpower sucking swamp and the only thing to do is wade through it. Even if its only a tiny bit of progress its a little bit further on. And experience tells me that often the other side of it is all downhill. Or I could sit on my ass and do nothing like the guy above ;)

Deathwing progress

You may have spotted these guys in the recent battle report. Blink though and you'd miss them as they were torn asunder by a hungry Trygon. Pretty much all the bonewhite elements have been done and they're ready for the next set, 50:50 bonewhite and white.

Also some thin chaos black has been added where appropriate.

First bit of extra colour, the Crux Terminatus has been made Mechrite Red as per my idea on fluff. This ties the Deathwing into Ferron Proxima as a recruitment world. Obviously the knightly aspect of Caliban doesn't sit too well with the old Red Indian theme of the Deathwing but this is where I can say it's specifically a place where those Native American Indian types came from because the landscape is very Monument Valley - red, flat with sudden up-cropping hills and mounds. It's all coming together, I just wish I had more time and enthusiasm to paint. The wife hasn't done any night shifts for a while and my late nights of TV watching and gaming are not conducive to another night of painting, which is why I've been painting a bit here and there when I have 5 or 10 minutes. The desire is there, it's just the willingness to do it is reduced because there's significantly more to do on 5 Terminators than a dozen Termagants

To Do List 2011/12

I really should get a list of things to do so I know just the scale of the projects still ongoing, so here goes:

• AoBR Tactical Squad
• AoBR Dreadnought
• AoBR Terminators
• Scout Squad
• Ravenwing bike squad
• Dark Angel Drop Pod
• Purity Seal all of my son's Tyranids
• Gloss Varnish all of my son's Tyranids
• Tyranid Prime
• Mycetic Spore
• Paint Vent Tower
• Paint defence platforms x4
• Complete pot pourri vegetation
• Complete future containers
• Complete 40k Cathedral tower
• STC Single story ruin
• STC Hex Defence platforms
• STC Targus Assault Blockade
• STC Vent tower
• STC Athena plateau
• STC Mercury plateau
• STC 40k Cathedral tower
• 60mm Dreadnought crater

Not sure if this includes everything 'on my plate' at the moment but it certainly seems like the bulk of it. Of course I've got a few Rhinos and a Land Raider and any number of marines but these are the target items, although I haven't set a date for any of this to be done by, so don't get your hopes up just yet.

The fact is we are getting a new kitchen in October, which on the plus side may mean we can get a bigger dining table that may support a 6'x4' gaming table but on the down side it'll mean at least two weeks of upheaval which won't allow much chance for hobby stuff. Regardless at least I now have a direction and something I can tick off and you all know what I'll be aiming for and hoping to receive in the form of STCs

Old Skool Samurai

So it would seem back in the day, before Nippon was excised from the Warhammer world Citadel had a passion for representing famous Japanese swordsmen in miniature. And although this doesn't match up with any of the figures on solegends it's clearly from the same era, before the slotta base no less.

I really like this pose, and the overabundance of Humbrol and an undercoat respray hasn't done him any favours a Dettol bath should fix that, I look forward to getting a second chance at this fella.

http://www.solegends.com/citboxes/dl1orientalheroes.htm

When I last mentioned ninjas in the blog I suggested that they may have been painted 'a la stars and stripes' in reference to the film American Ninja although it would seem he doesn't wear such an outfit and I'm not even sure I watched the film. That was when home videos were like gold and 'the man' used to come round with them to rent in the back of his estate and we got all sorts of rubbish ninja films and more high-brow classics like Hawk the Slayer and Sword and the Sorceror. Anyway, I digress, I'm sure you didn't actually believe I performed such a heinous crime but unfortunately I did not dispose of all the evidence and lo I put to you proof of my crimes. In actual fact though I do believe there was an altogether simpler reason for this bizarre choice. As you can see there is a ninja on the left with 'Tiger Claws' for scaling walls. Missing an arm, obviously, I was clearly big on the amputation of my figures at that stage but also you will notice the shoulder pad. So I concur that around this time I was in fact reappropriating these ninjas as an all Nippon BloodBowl team decked out in the flag of the United States... no I don't know why either.

Oh, and see that hammer wielding guy second from left on the bottom row, I had that figure, the guy next to him with the sword and shield, the ninja on the end and the archer above him. You forget so much of the junk you bought!

http://www.solegends.com/citc/c05orientals.htm

And lastly some of the earliest figures in my collection as these were in fact my brothers that he bout from the independent games shop in Liverpool at the time, cleverly called Game. I took my first trip to Liverpool to just go there once. Got on the train and this wedge shaped building with the door at the thin end. You had to go into the basement down this thin stair case. All the figures were in glass fronted wall cases one figure deep and the counter had a rack of tiny draws behind were after choosing your miniature they would find them in the drawer. I bought my first mini, a bearded, norse-like barbarian  for about 60p and went home. The train fare cost more than that! 

UPDATE: here's where Game was, today -

 

Terrain is everything - Vent Tower pt 6. COLOURISATION

The Vent Tower, finally with a bit of colour - Red Oxide Car Primer spraying at an angle can help generate some shadows but as I'm going to be adding more paint it's not essential.

Next up is my old Vermilion art acrylic to highlight, then some black poster paint shading washes to try to tone down the glossy finish to the red highlights. Then perhaps a little paler drybrushing to bring out all the edges. Plenty to do on the arch as it's going to have the same Ver-di-gris effect as my Honored Imperium statue. I had intended for the railings to be a scuffed yellow but I'm reluctant to introduce another colour so I'll see how things go.

Overall I'm amazed to finally get to this point when I think back to all the trials and teeth gnashing over the roof. The first Vent Tower post was in February but as you know most of my blog posts are written long before their posting date so it's a labour that has been long in development. The only things I think it lacks are a couple of dangly lights on it's corners and copper lightning rod strips going down the spires. Oh and how about some more height...?



WFB - Empire General on Pegasus

My recollection on this is a bit hazy I'm afraid. I've no idea on why I thought orange and green would be a suitable colour scheme for the pegasus but it was fun to do and suitably 'fantastical' to warrant doing and I think it still holds up today. The general himself with his red-metalled armour was also quite innovative for me at the time. Mixing new metallics up to get the effect I wanted. Not so sure about his magenta and yellow clashing with his mount but it's not like he was accessorizing was he?

So one of the questions I can't answer myself is the removal of his saddle and saddle back. It was quite an ornate piece of work which I've replaced with a piece of Milliput pricked within an inch of it's life to show some seating arrangement that look more like chainmail or a Rastafarian's hat [?]. The fact is I still have the seat and I had started to paint it a bit so what was I planning to use it for?

Just a couple of full length shots for your delectation.

WFB - Elf

Totally random I know but this fella was one of the WFB 4th Edition High Elf Archers. I painted him along with the rest of the Heroquest guys, just to play around and if we did play Heroquest there was another Hero to include.

Elves with blue hair, whatever next?