'nids part 319 - Genestealer cult - Aberrants - TO DONE! [Red Pics]

Afternoon #warmongers and #warhammercommunity I've been #paintingwarhammer on my Genestealer Cult Aberrants. I looked up which chemical causes the high of a sense of achievement and it appears to be dopamine. This is what I'm hooked on I think.

I finally solved the Turqs problem. Seeing hem next to everything else that was completed they made no sense to remain without highlights on the skin.

The Abominant looks pretty cool in the background on his 'hero' base and the original turq Aberrant doesn't stand out too much as different, despite the age difference.

I did refrain from some of the more excessive uses of Tamiya Clear Red X-27 on the join between flesh and Tyranid Chitin, in the way I'd used it on my original 4 Aberrants.

But it was such a relief to get them finished. All those little details and doodads on their bases taking so much additional time once the actual model was complete. That'll teach me to get super fancy resin bases.

With the dopamine high there are also some downers too - I'm not especially pleased about my showcase pics. 

Camera360 is doing its usual smoothing/simplifying effect.

I think part of the problem is I took these during the day, where I had the window open and there was too much natural light.

When I take them in the evening and I have just the man cave's fluorescent tubes and two daylight bulbs the Velvia filter gets much better results. 

I did use a mini tripod in places which helped keep things a little steadier.

But I'm not overly impressed with some of the pics, sadly.

Nevermind, the white pics showcase the models a little better, which is a relief.

It's just usually the colours are super vibrant, which is why I tried a different filter here to try and capture the high contrast rich reds and turquoise.

Not sure it worked but I was having fun.

The pics are also much higher res than I need and I'm close to two thirds of my google drive storage space now, thanks to it kicking out these bigger pictures.

I used to have an option of size output but for some reason they took it out.

Nevermind, these are just for fun.

 

White pics next.

Great Big Granite Stamp of Approval - TO DONE! 

'nids part 318 - Genestealer cult - Aberrants - the Turqs

Afternoon #warmongers and #warhammercommunity I've been back #paintingwarhammer on my Genestealer Cult Aberrants. One of the reasons I had flitted over to other projects, rather than push on with the Aberrants was these guys. Among my diverse genestealer hybrids there are those that are Turqs. On Ferron Proxima there are vat-grown gene-spliced humans, that are turquoise in a nod to Rogue Trooper.

These Turqs are often used in menial tasks due to their enhanced endurance and toughness. What the people of Ferron Proxima don't know is that gene-splicing is xenos DNA based and is part of the Free Radical Collective's insidious attempt to overthrow the planet. Of course they had to hide their efforts well - many of the Turqs are not cultists or even hybridised. Their gene-splicing is so successful not even a Gamma level Magos-Biologis could detect even the tiniest hint of Xenos DNA.

But along the way the Genestealer Biophagus will have had numerous mistakes - hence the Aberrants until they were able to combine the correct hybridised DNA of both alien and human. This way they would have all the benefits of the xenos, their compliance before the Four Armed Emperor and with Turqs already as part of the population they could then hide in plain sight until the time of the uprising.

Anyway, these four looked so good without highlights [the one on the far right]. I wanted to 'finish' them off before I decided on how to handle the turquoise skintone and whether to highlight or not. I wanted a record of them at this stage at least so I knew what I was losing or gaining.

This is definitely an option to explore in the future but now that I see everything fully highlighted I think to leave the skin without any further tones would be a mistake. They may not be quite as extreme as the original. I still think there are some beautiful tones that I don't want to lose, but luckily there are areas in shadow where I can retain them. It was funny actually because all the others are finished and I though all I had left to do was varnishing and then remembered these 4, not to mention the Abominant too!

So, one more session, varnishes and then TO DONE! pics.

Terrain is everything - Aegis Defence Line - TO DONE! [White Pics]

Afternoon #warmongers and #warhammercommunity #TerrainWednesday again and here are the Aegis Defence Line pics on a white background, you know if I was ever to send it in to White Dwarf, which I won't, so I'm not sure of the point of it but whatevs...

The great big irony of this is that I think I have another Aegis Defence Line knocking around completely unpainted.

I'm pretty certain if I plan to use this in Armies on Parade one line will be enough but part of me is thinking about the second. The results speak for themselves and a second set would look [mathematically] twice as good.

But I just can't justify why I would start such an enterprise right now.

Many of these projects can be done before Oct/Nov [whenever the next AoP lands] but I doubt I can do all of them. If I was to prioritise anything it'd be the Macragge Squad 

The Munitorum Containers might also fit into it but I'm not entirely sure if that is part of my vision yet.

We'll see, but I'm so chuffed to get these completed. They just happened organically and I'm really happy with the results.

It does mean I'm back on the Aberrants though and then I'm running out of 'in progress' projects.

I think the Adeptus Titanicus Titans will be next, then that blasted Land Raider - it too is taunting me now. 

Then it'll be a choice between Macragge Tactical Squad or my Halfling Blood Bowl Team - I may at least do a test model of them at some point as a palette cleanser and get my head round the recipe.

Which pretty much undermines my concern about starting a second Aegis Defence line! Ha, ha! The hobby is full of inconsistencies.

Regardless, I've got about 6 weeks until my son returns from uni, and I know I can be most productive during this time. So I need to pick my projects wisely and get as much done as possible. This hobby season is already awesome, lets see what else I can bring to the table,

Terrain is everything - Aegis Defence Line - TO DONE! [Red Pics]

Afternoon #warmongers and #warhammercommunity #TerrainMonday again and I have finished the Aegis Defence Line! It has been a long time since I did this sort of terrain [excluding the servo-haulers that is], when I did the Bastions.

It was such and odd decision to take these on, but the Aberrants were presenting with issues and I just needed something to break that lock.

I had picked up a green spray can [not a hobby manufacturer] ages ago and given them a zenithal highlight [after all the texture FX and basecoats] but somehow forgot to take pictures. 

And there they were, sat in a plastic takeaway tub - taunting me. Maybe that's a thing - put some long term WiPs that may have stalled in your field of vision.

There's nothing like a constant reminder they are incomplete to get you to just put them to bed, once and for all.

Obviously it's the combined Valejo Rust wash and Secret Weapon weathering powders that elevate these. Whether they're naturally accurate or just a caricature doesn't matter I'm really pleased with the result. 

I had forgotten that a subsequent varnish would reduce the potency of the weathering. Not so much that this was even more extreme.

But it actually removes some of the subtlety. Where there is extreme orange that remains, but where it faded to brown the varnish manages to absorb that somehow and you are just left with a huge contrast.

I may have to remember that in future as I may add the varnish first and then do the weathering. There's always the question of how to fix the powder, but as I'm mixing it with the rust wash I think that is fixing it as its applied.

I thought I'd just set up the entire defence line with the Comms Relay and a small squad of marines.

The base of the relay has a little more bronze elements that I've simplified on the defence line but I won't lose any sleep over it. I mean who's going to take me to task?

 

I'm having a thought for my next Armies on Parade that I might do my Dark Angels Vs my Tyranids on a narrative board. I may need to finish that Macragge Tactical Squad though, to have more greenwing.

As I want to set up a defensive position, the Ravenwing might not fit that, well the bike as least. I want to ensure everything on the Tyranid side is full to the brim.

With Hormagaunts, Termagants and Genestealers at the walls about to overrun the position,

Then I can have all the bigger creatures at the back so the entire horde scales back. I could even use some of the Capillary Towers in the back ground, just for a bit of context.

Sadly, I don't think the Void Shield Generator would make any sense but we'll see,

I might even consider getting the cardboard red planet play mat as a base. I know it's not ideal but the wider space might offer me more opportunities and I really can't make/store another base at the moment, but we'll see. 

Anyhoo - Great Big Granite Stamp of Approval - TO DONE!