'nids part 317 - Genestealer cult - Aberrants

Afternoon #warmongers and #warhammercommunity I've been #paintingwarhammer on my Genestealer Cult Aberrants. This has been a very slow process, hence the lack of posts. I had obviously applied some highlights and it was time to make all that raw interface between alien growth and human skin. The amazing effect of VGC Heavy Red [or Citadel Khorne Red] has helped me get to a stage that I'm happier with.

As you can see it's taken that rather flat and pedestrian highlighted skin and added far more dimension to it. I've used much more red than the original fair skinned Aberrants but I don't think it'll be too noticeable as a group.

Still a lot to do on the bases as well. There is a significant amount of details on these but I'm getting there slowly.

I have some claws to highlight and maybe some vermillion on all the fleshy bits for a subtle extra highlight. Teeth, eyes and tongues too.

Weapons and that bloody rock [as well as a couple of skulls!].

The dark skinned group were also brought up to the same point. I keep trying to convince myself the bulk of it is done, it's just detail work now, a lot of which should be fun.

But I also know all those tiny details fail to give the feeling of progress. It's hours to get a pipe or some debris done and it only takes up 2% of the model!

All the weapons need griming up and some additional drybrushed highlights and then I need to resolve the 'power' bit as I did not like my psuedo-lightning effect on the original 5.

The banner has to be done as well.

All the red clothes are highlighted, I've been surprisingly busy while I've not been motivated, but that's the point - little bits of work go a long way to help move a project past those sticking points.

Just spotted that sneaky bit of grill/mesh on the base of the right one that hasn't been painted! Lots still to do but getting close now.

Importantly, my son went back to university on Monday, which means I will have a bit more hobby time to get these over the line. This is a massive project, although it may not immediately appear so. I'll explain next time, but believe me, this will be a major achievement when it is complete. Looking forward to getting them complete!

Terrain is everything - Aegis Defence Line - SAY WHAT?!

Afternoon #warmongers and #warhammercommunity it's #TerrainTuesday ... OK so I did manage to get another piece of terrain work done and arrange it for a Tuesday! Anyway, Aegis Defence Line... I can't believe I've never taken pictures of this up until now. I think I prepared this at the same time as my Bastions which looks like September 2015. You can see Bastion 2 had been sprayed green and shadow washed after all the texture and crackle paints had been applied. The Aegis was probably done as well, I just never applied the shadow wash.

The other day I applied some black wash to them all, the double wall is that stage. Then I applied a mix of stippling and drybrush of Army Painter Angel Green and then VGC Goblin Green for the highlight. Initially I had the side panel highlighted at the top and darker at the bottom but the middle panel was naturally highlighted at the bottom so I switched it as it made more sense. There are still some inconsistencies but it does work better this way.

Far from finished though as you can see the two on the right have has some additional shading. This creates contrast and definition and means the rough drybrush is no bother, particularly with all the texture and the upcoming weathering. There'll be some more black shading to add too for even more contrast and I'll pick out the eagle in Stonewall Grey and White. The reverse is also done but there will be some metallic pieces on there, to match my Bastions.

I was really excited to get the four smaller pieces to a much more respectable place so quickly [a couple of hours]. Then I realised these four small ones are only 33% of the wall, so still 67% yet to do green. And then there is the aforementioned metallics, weathering and greys. But it's fun and I'm enjoying it. I was feeling guilty because it was 'off list' but I just discovered it most certainly is not off list and has been on my list for years. I conceded I said it was low down on that list but what a coup if I can get this done [I will get this done]. WiP for over 6 years - another heritage project could be completed - bring it on!

#McrBattleOfTheBrush

Afternoon #warmongers and #warhammercommunity you may recall [pre-COVID] my local* Manchester Warhammer store had a monthly painting challenge. In fact this was my plan in February 2020... best laid plans and all:

February - Big Model - Dark Angel Redemptor Dreadnought

March - Character - Blood Bowl Ogre

April - Squad - Blood Bowl Team

May - Big Model - Land Raider? 

June - Character - ?

July - Squad - Deathwing Knights

Of course the pandemic scotched that, but in August they decided to create their #McrBattleOfTheBrush challenge online. Since then I've been entering my efforts but hadn't really kept track of what I entered so thought I'd keep a record here:

August 2020

My Blood bowl Ogre in the Single Figure category.

September 2020

My Old Skool Middenheim Marauders Team [minus the Ogre, but I like this picture more] in the Squad category.

October 2020

Oops, somehow I totally missed the entry post for this and didn't share an entry. So much for #HobbyStreak

November 2020

Deathwing Knights in the Squad category. This won one of the three 'Best in Show' awards for the category.

December 2020

Galvanic Servo-haulers in the Squad category. This won one of the three 'Most inspiring' awards for how the judges would paint their version if they got that model.

January 2021

Tyranid Tyrannofex in the Large Model category. This won one of the three 'Best in Show' awards for the category.

February 2021

Nurgle Blood Bowl Team in the Squad category. This won one of the three 'Best in Show' awards for the category.

March 2021

Adeptus Titanicus Cerastus Knight Lancer in the Single Figure category.

So, you can see I've been a tad successful in my efforts, despite the quality of the entries being exceptional. Not just super-high quality but entrants with significant quantity - dozens of miniatures over all categories. I'll say it again though - I don't participate for the awards. I paint my figures, I had always tried to meet the criteria of the entries - 4 of each category. If I had something I was painting and meet a deadline then that was in, if I couldn't meet the deadline I entered something they'd never seen or I'd submitted before. It was all about motivation, joining in and sharing with my local hobbyists. Gutted I missed that October one but I've got plenty more to share - my Tyranid VSG, Rippers etc. Maybe I'll even finish these bloomin' Aberrants, or EVEN the Land Raider...! Check out if your own local GW/Warhammer store is doing a similar challenge and join in.

*local - as in that's where I work, I'm also joining in a lot of WiP posts at Warhammer Liverpool, which is actually my nearest store to where I live. This is also great motivation, even if I'm not being particularly productive at the moment.

'nids part 316 - Genestealer cult - Aberrants

Afternoon #warmongers and #warhammercommunity I've been #paintingwarhammer. Playing around with skintones again I've applied some highlights to these three.

It's really weird as I went all in with raw Khorne Red on the interface points on the turquoise ones but then couldn't get my head round the highlighting still to do [hence why I switched to these]. Now I need to do the Khorne Red on these but their cleanliness is annoying me.

I have to be patient and hold fast, stick to the plan - get another few highlights on and then I can add more detail. Fingers crossed.

Here's my previous Bronze Flesh example, hoping I can match them up.

Highlights and then the red should keep them similar, but skin variations aren't a problem really on organic things. So long as I can identify them in groups of five it's fine.

Loads to do on these but I need to get them done, I'm hoping they'll be finished by the end of the month as I think I'll have more hobby time soon. With them done I may do a full army photograph [in May], definitely all my nids, with these done maybe nids and Genestealer Cult... It depends how they fill out my board.

Terrain is everything - Munitorum containers primed

Afternoon #warmongers and #warhammercommunity it's #TerrainTuesday but lets not kid ourselves, I'm never going to stick to a routine of sharing terrain WiPs EVERY Tuesday! Anyway, munitorum containers...

I primed these with black first and if it looks ropey, that's deliberate. I used some almost empty cans and half-pressed the nozzle to get really spitty spray droplets to add some texture. This first one then had some Green Stuff World One-step Crackle Paint [Martian earth] added to create paint flecks.

The other two started with Vallejo Oxid Paste for rust effect and then crackle paint.

I was experimenting to see which was the best order and I think crackle paint then oxid paste was probably the best way to go.

Here you can see how I used the oxid paste to blend the crackle paint into the texture.

This one was oxid first and then crackle and it appears odd looking to me - too separate.

Perhaps the next zenithal prime will blend it together?

Yep, sure did. So much so I don't know which is which now.

And the red oxide primer has even blended the spitty black prime too, mores the pity. 

You might just be able to make out some texture on the flat, but the oxid paste overshadows any subtlety elsewhere. 

I have planned these three to be red, yellow and white, but I also complicated things by deciding they will have centre stripes - red/white, yellow/black and white/orange. I can never just make things easy on myself!

I'm hoping the red one can be a darker red, which will be a challenge as usually I just end up with my vermilion across the board [literally].

I may even try the salt weathering technique again on the white one - it'll be white anyway so any errant salt stains won't be too bad, but will these cool cracked paint flakes stand up to scrubbing off any subsequent paint layers?

Lots more shadow washes and weathering to do before I apply the top colours. Until then, in absence of a 'base' [I always consider it 'base and prime' anyway] here's my Big Build Great Big Granite Base Stamp of Approval.

#MERP #MiddleEarthRolePlaying Game

Afternoon #warmongers and I've not been especially productive on the old painting front. However, part of my To Do List was to 'play more games' -  a difficult task under lockdown. Luckily Ben came to the rescue, and after some aborted suggestions that we could play Blackstone Fortress online he created a Middle Earth Role-Playing campaign for us to play over Zoom. Back in the day we evolved our gaming over time. We played 40k, Blood Bowl, Talisman, Space-Hulk, Fantasy, Epic, pretty much everything GW brought out and then we got into role-playing. We had Warhammer Fantasy characters and a couple of game systems, I forget their names now. We then ended up live role-playing and some of the other guys went on to do re-enactments, black powder stuff and everything!

Anyway, we've been playing MERP for a few months now, with a session once a week or so. It has been the most fun I've had gaming in a very long time. My cheeks are regularly in pain as I've been grinning so much. It's been hilarious as our merry band of adventurers stumble around alternating between shockingly bad dice rolls and at least one 100 a session! 

I sometimes have to remind myself to actually role-play though as a lot of time I just enjoy watching the other guys make stuff up and micro-manage how best to protect our loot 😂 That's the problem when you've role-played a bit, you become paranoid at every turn there will be traps, ambushes or thieves! Still we've found a load of money in a big pile of bear-dung and we've also met Gandalf - we're kind of a big deal now 😉

So, although my painting hobby may not have progressed too much right now, I am happy with where I am and these gaming sessions are doing wonders for my well-being. I don't know if you're in a situation to set up a game like this, but if you're missing gaming why not look at role-playing until things improve?

Terrain is everything - Munitorum Containers - Big Build TO DONE!

Afternoon #warmongers and #warhammercommunity just a quick one, I've built some Munitorum Containers and I feel really good about it. I've kept one with an open end, so some models can potentially hide inside. It's nice to have them done. I want a dark red, white and yellow one... or a grey, or turquoise, not sure. Red is definite. The other two are testing for how I ptoentially paint my other mechanicum terrain

 I'm feeling better in my head. I think it's like lancing a boil sometimes. As soon as I share how the hobby is having a detrimental impact on me I tend to feel like I can move forward. I've still got a couple of simple tasks on post-it notes that I can do and by focussing on just those tasks I can ignore the weight of everything else that may or may not have been planned and prioritised.  So slow progress. When I've ticked those things off I can write a couple more and see where I'm at. For now - my Great Big Granite Big Build stamp of approval.