Where does he get those wonderful toys?...

Bit of a mixed bag update this time around, lots of miniatures from lots of different games. These are all from my personal collection and I doubt I will be selling them because I like them so much.

So, lets crack on with the pics:

Meet The Family. Actually, this is not quite all The Family, we are missing another son; he has a flame thrower and a gimp mask. Anyway, these are from Foundry's Street Violence range (a range I have quite a lot of) and I particularly love The Family.

Lets take a closer look at each figure.

Meet Ma. As desturbing as this miniature is, I must admit that I quite enjoyed painting it...
I was torn between painting her *shudder* knickers and boots white or black. I chose black at the time, but now I was thinking maybe white would be a little more, erm... disturbing. I love her pink babydoll nightie thing and thought (after I did it) that maybe the white would go better with the pink babydoll...

I cannot deny it; everything about this figure is totally AWESOME!
There. I said it. And I am not proud of myself...

Meet two of her sons. I really love these figures; they are very evocative of the theme. The whole Family is kind of Texas Chainsaw Massacre style...

The bases on these miniatures are not complete (they have been sculpted from modelling putty), I was waiting until I finish the gimp flamer guy first.

They look such a happy Family; not at all dysfunctional and mentally disturbed...

Anyway, on with more miniatures.

Here we have some Epic scale Deathguard Marines. I LOVE epic (when it was called Space Marine and Titan Legions), it is my favourite of the GW miniature games by far. I think it is because you feel you are actually taking part in a huge battle, as opposed to a skirmish like Warhammer and 40K.

I converted all the Nurgle Rhino tanks with modelling putty (Green Stuff) which is hard to work with at this scale.

You might be wondering on the colour scheme? Nurgle is greens and browns, surely? Well, yes. But not Deathguard; they are actually white. However, I did not like the white/cream that is usually traditionaly, so I went with a light grey instead; I just liked it (in real like, they are actually lighter then they appear here). 

Lets take a closer look at the rhinos:

This is my favorite one, the tongue turned out pretty well, I think.

Spines bursting out of the tank.

All of them have pock-marks, cuts and the Nurgle mark.

Next, lets have a look at a Malifaux figure. I will be picking up the new Malifaux plastics at some point, but I have quite a few of the metal ones from Malifaux 1.

Meet Teddy:

 I painted it (obviously) as a carebear - Nightmare Bear. Here is a close-up of his emblem; an evil moon licking a star:

I thought that this was very evocative of the theme of Teddy in Malifaux (he feeds on fear). 

I was apprehensive about painting blood on the mouth and hands; I normally shy away from blood on miniatures (I think it generally looks cliche on weapons and such). However, I could not really escape it for this miniature; if I did not do it, it would look too cute instead of a feral monster. It also contrasts nicely with the blue fur.

So, there you have it; a mix bag of miniatures.

The next update will be more Tomb Kings miniatures; Skull Catapults and the scratch built Heirotitan.

One final thing:

They taste better with the leaves still on. Fact.

See you in the next update.

More Dry Bones... and some Spawn.

As Promised, a mini update (pun intended?) with the finished Tomb kings Archer unit.

As I said in the last update, the regular soldiers are wearing white cloth (as opposed to the black of the raiders). Notice the archers have all been converted to have kilts.
The unit filler (equivalent to 4 models footprint) has a broken obelisk with scarabs crawling on it.

I will post more Tomb Kings as I paint them up.

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I had these Chaos Spawn models lying around that I found. I liked these Spawn so decided to post them for your viewing pleasure.

This one I nicknamed 'The Beast' in our games because he has pulled off a ton of impressive kills and plays and my regular opponents knew to fear him. He has had no conversions on him, I just like the way he is painted; particularly the way his red eye contrasts with the white and blue of the rest of him.

 This one was nicknamed 'Prawn Man' and it is easy to see why. This spawn has been converted; his legs were chopped away and he has been given crab-like legs, with his abdomen built up with modelling putty.
He was useless in our games, doing little of note. But I love him anyway...

 Again, I will see you in the next update.

Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones!

Greetings and welcome to a WFB update to my painting efforts.

I have been adding to my painted Tomb Kings, probably going to sell them. I already have quite a bit painted and decided to paint the rest and sell them on. I liked the army and spent some time converting them all (as you will see), but I am not really playing Warhammer at the moment. Focusing on SAGA instead (need to finish painting my Welsh and then finish building my Shiney Rus, which I am really looking forward to playing with).

Anyway, on with the miniatures!

First up, we have some Horse Archers. I have added a sort of tattered headscarf to these guys. Basically, in my army I have the regular standing professional soldiers and a contingent of auxiliary desert raiders. Obviously, these are desert raiders.

There are 10 in total. This is the first 5.

And the second lot of 5.

I posed them in (what I believe to be) animated desert raider poses. Both units have a leader type that is signalling his men and urging them forward while others whoop and jeer or hold their bows side-on.

I don't really see the Tomb kings as slow and ponderous like the Vampire Counts, where the skeletons and zombies are just animated bodies driven by the will of the Vampire/Necromancer. The lore for Tomb Kings says that they retain some of their personality in undeath and they are semi-autonomous.

Next, we have a Tomb Scorpion.
I converted this model to be bursting up from the sand (as it has that special rule). I had to chop half the model away, but the massacre is covered by sand.

I quite like the way this model turned out. Its a fairly static model and there is not a lot you can really do with it (without making it something totally different, but I wanted to really avoid massive radical changes - just opting to make each model more dynamic and life-like instead).

Next up is the Casket of Souls.

Whereas the desert raiders wear black cloth, all the regular army undead wear white as here. White, gold and bone are the main colours, which turquoise as a contrasting colour.
Incidentely, the guards' weapons are not original. I only got 1 sword in the box and I could not be bothered dealing with GW mail order to get another so I just used standard TK swords. I think they look fine.
Oh, this is the 'failcast' version of the casket - I prefer the weight and ease of the 'failcast' over the metal, if not for the holes and bubbles I had to fill... But it turned out just fine.

Finally, here is the Warsphinx.

I converted this model to be conducting its special stomp attack, and crushing the ground while it is at it. Again, its another fairly static model and this seemed a good way to bring it to life.
I really like this model and I am pleased how it turned out (its my favourite of the 'howdah-hammer' models, until the release the Wood Elf Tree-man House...).

I have lots more Tomb Kings to paint. I have a large unit of archers done (nearly at the photo-able stage, just finishing off a unit filler) and loads more converted and undercoated. And here they are...

 (A Hierotitan conversion)

 (Necropolis Knights - check out the champion's snake around the pillar!)

 (some Horsemen)

 (Classic chariots - these are desert raiders with headscarfs)

 (Chariots, including a Tomb King/Prince on chariot conversion)

 (Classic Skull Catapults - I actually prefer these models to the 'proper' one)

 (Priests - 1 normal, 1 from another range and 2 imperial wizard conversions)

(another large unit of archers with a unit filler - all my archers have kilts on. No, not Scottish ones...)

Once my other unit of archers is ready to be photographed (probably by tomorrow), I will do that and post it here.

See you in the next update.

I vow it, that hence I will not flee a foot's length!

So claims the Saxon Warrior at the Battle of Maldon.

Yep, Ive been working on an Anglo Danish warband for SAGA and present it to you now in all its shieldwall glory!

(The Anglo Danish Warlord stands in his shieldwall, flanked by his Huscarls).

I used my usual SAGA painting technique on these boys, which I will detail for you henceforth...

DISCLAIMER: this might be a long post; maybe too long. If you cannot be bothered to read it all then just look at the pretty step-by-step pictures.

I started by cleaning up the models, glueing them to their bases and then adding airdry clay to the bases for texture. Make sure you use a polymer clay, so it does not crumble (an artists airdry clay, not a children's one - I used Fimoair with great success, you can get it at Hobbycraft in the UK). The clay gives a great texture to the base and you can even sculpt with it, if you are that way inclined (I don't smooth it down, I rough it up a bit to keep the texture - this way it can be straight painted without adding any sand or anything of its ilk).

As you can see, I have used Gripping Beast figures on Renedra bases. I have also used Gripping beasts wire spears - soooooooo much stronger then the crappy spears you get with them.

I then undercoated the models in grey. I just prefer to paint SAGA models over grey instead of black (and I never use white).

After the undercoat I begin to apply the base colours. In this case, the metal, the flesh and the leather went on first (the metal was watered down so it flowed into all the links in the mail. Actually, as I rule I water all my paints about 4:1, but the metal it was about 2:1). To be honest, I'm not sure why I made the decision to do these first, I would normally apply the tunic colours. Probably it was due to the tunics all being different colours so I did the universal colours first.

After these base colours I then went and applied the tunic colours. When applying colours at this stage it is not important to be neat, to be honest. I dont mean to liberally slap colour on using a wall roller or anything, just dont be concerned if colour looks 'sloppy' - it will all work out fine.

Now, I planned on using 'dip' on these models, as I think it can make dark age models look pretty good (suitably grimy, if you will). I have seen people use dip as a means to get away with doing any actual work on the models, just applying the dip over some base colours (in fact, this is how Army Painter teach you to do it for the sake of speed). This is fine, if that is what you want to do. However, I have been painting models for nigh on 15 years using all sorts of techniques. I have experimented with dip and believe I have a happy medium between speed and quality that i am happy with. To this end, all of my 'dipped' models receive a highlight stage. As presented here.

 This highlight stage brings the models up really nice once the dip has been applied and gives the model a more 'traditional' 3 tones (shade - base - highlight). However, the highlight is applied at least 2 tones above the base colour, as it will be dulled in the dip process and you want it to persist after dipping.

After this I turned to the most important aspect of the model - the shield!
Now, I know you can get some nice transfers for dark age shields, but I really enjoy painting the shields myself - transfers can look a little... hmm... fake? To get the best out of transfers you need to paint over them. In this respect, the transfer acts as a guide only, not an end in itself. In my humble opinion.

I wanted all the shields to be different patterned, to reflect the levy approach to warfare that persisted (no nice Roman uniforms welcome. Thanks).

After the shields were done all I had left was to paint the base of each model and they were ready for 'dipping'.

I don't dip my models. That is to say, I don't dunk the model in the tin of dip, like they suggest. I just don't want that much dip on my model. I apply it with a brush and use it more like a wash; I make sure that the dip does not pool anywhere on the model.

Of course, after dipping the models are all nice and shiny. We don't want that. I use a super-matt spray to dull the model (after the dip has dried over-night, of course) and make it look awesome again. This also brings out the paint job that much more and demonstrates the importance of applying a highlight.

All that was left to do was apply static grass and clumps of a a sponge-type lichen effect material (by Galeforce Nine) to the bases and they were complete.

Here they all are in all the awesomeness:

 (Warlord, front view and base detail - the rock is actual slate from my garden. Its clean.)

 (Rear view of Warlord, showing off his furry cloak. He spent so much on it he could not afford trousers...)

 (Huscarl with spears. They favour their own skin and so dont use a Dane Axe, like a real man).

(Huscarl with Dane Axe. Real men).

 (Rear veiw of Dane Axe Huscarls. Try stabbing them in the back).

 (Warlord with his Huscarls. Look mean, don't they? They are).

 (Warriors advancing with their spears at the ready. Except the guy hiding behind his big shield; he's scared).

 (Warriors standing with spears. They are bored, the battle should have started an hour ago...)

(The shieldwall, bristling with spears! And moustaches....)

 (The shieldwall from a jaunty angle...)

 (And again)

(What the shieldwall might look like from a helicopter...)

So, there you have it; my Anglo-Danish Warband.

Thanks for reading (or just looking at the pictures). See you in the next update.