Friday, August 28, 2009

Rogue Trader Friday



This gem comes from the original Warhammer 40k Rogue Trader Rulebook.

Im not even entirely sure what is going on in this picture.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Chaos, Undecided



My painting table is in shambles. Too much going on.



I thought my Imperial Fist veterans were coming along okay. Spraying them entirely yellow gets to be a pain having to pick out all the metals first in black, and then hit with a drybrush of boltgun. Same with the white with a base coat of Shadow Grey and then many coats of Skull White. But even with a sepia wash, the yellow just doesn't get a good enough shadow in the transition spaces.



I pulled out some Crimson Fists I had been working on before getting inspired by yellow.



They get better looking every time I look at them.

Anyway, my fate is up to you. What say you; interwebs, Imperial or Crimson Fists? I am in your hands.



Another shot of a War of The Ring army of the dead.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Rogue Trader Friday



Each Friday I will feature some of the artwork from Games Workshop's past.

In honor of the Space Hulk re-release this week, this image comes from the Warhammer 40,000 Battle Manual.

Red tint added by me. Enjoy.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Combo Plasma Work



Got some work done on the coils on the plasma half of the combo bolter.



Got a sepia wash over the yellow base last night. Hit them with a quick shot of Testors Dullcote to take some of the shine off.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Progress?



Got a skull white prime coat on my veterans, hoping to get the yellow base down tonight. We will see.

Also a look at their un-primed bases:



They are Urban bases from Dark Art Miniatures and are really beautiful.

I had ordered the Urban Scenic Base Army Deal, which is now named the Urban Core base pack which nets you 20 25mm, 5 40mm, and one 60mm base for about $20-25 depending on the exchange rate. They really are top notch resin bases.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Product Review: GW Brushes (New)

Games Workshop recently revamped their brush line replacing the blue marbled handle models that have been much maligned. I know that many will swear upon Winsor and Newton's Series Seven, and this review will dissuade none from that product, but I feel the updated range has an adequate bang for the buck.



I was able to get my hands on the new range excluding the large drybrush and stippling brush. Here are my thoughts:

The line received a much needed visual face lift with a matte black finish replacing the dated blue marble finish of the previous iteration. Colored tips denote the different brushes in the set.

According to GW, most of the brushes in the line are constructed (by hand) of Kolinsky Sable, with the exception of I believe the dry and stippling brushes. This makes sense as both uses require a bit more wear intensive materials.

The brushes are comfortable to use and feel solidly put together. The brush ends appear neat and well constructed. The larger brushes in the line such as the standard and wash have a heftier feel to them than do the detail end of the line.



I really enjoyed using the wash brush in a few projects. It has a larger brush "belly" that holds a lot of wash. It is a very thick brush end which works as sort of a mop to slap a liberal coat of wash on a model. Probably not the best tool for washing crevasses, etc, but it will get the job done washing over a basecoat.

The one complaint I have is about the fine detail brush. While the brush is adequately small enough for final highlights, eyes, lenses, gems, teeth, etc , it just doesn't give you enough rigidity to really give you that pin point application that I was looking for. The tip would bend a bit and get paint exactly where I didn't want it to go. Don't get me wrong, I don't jab the points on the model, but this brush just felt a bit flimsy.

The other negative is the small drybrush. I have been using one of the old Citadel red handled drybrushes forever it seems like. It takes a pounding and keeps on coming back time after time. It has a soft quality to it that I just haven't been able to find in another drybrush. The new version is no different. It bristles seem to spread way out as soon as you apply paint to it and start those few initial strokes to get the majority of the paint off. It is still a serviceable brush, but perhaps I am spoiled from using my favorite red handle for so long.

The remainder of the line are nothing special for a 5-6 dollar price point. Of course you are probably going to get better results with a 18-25 dollar Winsor & Newton, but this new brush set covers all the bases with adequate brushes. Available in a set or by the brush here.

EDIT: In researching W&N prices I found them at about 50-60% off list at Dick Blick art supply.

Everyone has to blog about Space Hulk today, right?



Simply Beautiful. I think the quality of the miniatures far surpassed anyone's ideas. I'm sure the cardboard floor pieces will get some grumbles from some corners, but it all looks great.

Looks like its time to start learning how to paint red well.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Imperial Fist Veterans


Here are the start of an Imperial Fist veterans squad. What started out as trial on an old mini to see if painting yellow was feasible, turned into starting an Imperial Fist army.

The yellow was a basecoat of Tamiya Color TS-34 Camel Yellow spray that I had left over from interestingly enough a project for my wedding this past July. This was applied over skull white primer.

I then washed the entire miniature with Citadel's Gryphonne Sepia.

The metals were painted Chaos Black, drybrushed with Boltgun, and finally washed with everyone's favorite Badab Black.

The whites were based with Shadow Grey before numerous coats of Skull White. The parts still could use a few more solid coats to clean it up.

The Crux was based with foundation Adeptus Battlegrey and layered with Codex Grey and finally a highlight of Astronomican Grey.

In its former life, this mini was a Black Templar with the mace replaced with a sword from the Black Templar upgrade frame. His right hand will be wielding a combo bolter with plasma gun seen here:


The weapon was basecoated Skull White and liberally washed with Badab. A drybrush of boltgun was then applied followed by another Badab wash.

The bolter casing will eventually be black.

I'll hopefully be able to prime the other two Sternguard above tonight.