Oh god, the elves are back

A while ago I took on a project to paint some elves - 15 Ellyrian reavers and 5 dragon princes. By the end of it, I never wanted to see another elf again. A few weeks ago I was asked to paint a high elf phoenix and a bolt thrower. I said OK, so I guess I'm over it. Anyway, here are the finished results:

 I didn't get a good picture of the underside, so imagine this but upside down.

Close up of the head.

The recipient likes to paint his own bases, so they've been left blank. This is actually the second phoenix I've painted and I've got to say this model is a lot of fun with an airbrush. It could do with fewer snowflakes, however. None, in fact. Surely there must be a way to represent "cold" on a model other than massive snowflakes with spindly bits that you have to paint the sides of as well as the tops? I briefly considered counting all of them to impress upon you just how many there are and how long it takes to go over them, but I fell asleep after half of one side of one wing, which I guess is a good enough way to make my point: there are so many snowflakes I couldn't count them all. Next time I paint one of these I hope it's a fire phoenix.

As well as showing some of the models I've been working on I thought I'd draw your attention to the gallery page on this blog, which has been updated since the last post. It's now a gallery of my Tabletop +1 models, and has three - that's right, three! - models in it already! Alright, I agree that's not very impressive yet, but it's a start. After uploading the first few images I decided it might look better if all the models were photographed under more similar lighting, so over the coming weeks they'll be getting new pictures taken and uploaded as I find time. Until then, please enjoy the three that are on display!

As always, happy painting!

Tomb King TT+1

There's been a bit of a lull in painting of late. Bit of a lull in life really. I did, however, manage to put the finishing touches on a Tomb King model. Originally he was going to be in my Undead Legion army, but I have decided I prefer the older, metal Tomb Kings and will be adding one of those instead. This guy will just be going on my display shelf for now.

Hopefully this is a sign my painting slump is over and there'll be more to see soon. Until then, happy painting!

Please turn to page 182

Did you see it? Did you see it! Quick - page 182 of Warhammer Visions issue 11!

That's my sorcerer! Fair enough, there are hundreds of models in there and every Golden Demon finalist is probably going to be shown eventually, but I was pretty excited to discover my first model in Visions. Hopefully there'll be more in future! :)

Slapdash Dwarf Warriors

So it's time for another update on the slapdash dwarves - the mostly BfSP army I'm working on. I'm pretty happy with the progress of the army, but how the hell do you paint these guys' eyes? Honestly I don't know which bit of the face is supposed to be the eye, which is supposed to be just face. In the end I decided just to paint the easiest bit as eyes, but if anyone's got a definitive answer I'd be interested in hearing it. Anyway - photos!

Next on the project list is some TT+1, some more vampires, some more TT+1, and actually updating the gallery! Until then, happy painting!

Tabletop +1 - Wurrzag

It's been a while coming but here are some pictures of my Wurrzag, painted to TT+1. He was my entry at Golden Demon and made finalist. Sadly he was my only entry as I was pressed for time. Hopefully next year there'll be more than one. In any case, enjoy!

Some close-ups of the base:

On their way are another instalment for the dwarves, some WIP projects, and some more TT+1. Until then, happy painting!

Vampires Chapter 4: Hexwraiths

As promised, more vampire counts!

Tried out using Nihilakh Oxide to paint these guys so they're a little different compared to my other ethereals, but given the uniqueness of the unit I'm not too put out by that. Not much more to say about these guys really - just working through the army one unit at a time.

Still to come - some TT+1. Until then, happy painting!

Space Marine Captain

A little while back I realized I hadn't painted anything above a tabletop standard in ages, and I decided a good way to refresh my painting skills would be to follow one of the 'Eavy Metal masterclasses. I decided to use the Captain Sicarius one on my Assault on Black Reach Captain (who I believe is a younger version of Sicarius). I finally got round to taking some pictures of him, and here's the result:

The shape of the cloak inside didn't allow for the extensive masterclass freehand, so I added a little (upside-down - darn!) Ultramarine symbol instead. 

There are a few areas that could have been improved upon (the armour and extreme highlights on the red spring to mind), but as a test to get me back in painting gear I'm pretty happy with him. His base is deliberately simple because I'm planning to paint a small AoBR detachment and wanted an easy, unifying base scheme for them.

I hope you like him and, if you have any questions or comments, please leave them below.

Coming soon are some more vampire counts and something TT+1. Until then, happy painting!

Slapdash Dwarf Heroes!

Some months ago I left you with a little teaser:

Now, wonder no more! The time has come to reveal what the model to the thunderer's left - the right hand side of the photo: confusing, I know - is. Drumroll please!...

It was, of course, a dwarf slayer! (OK, admittedly that wasn't much of a teaser. Next time it'll be harder, I promise.) Actually it was one of two dwarf slayers that have been sitting on my shelf waiting to be photographed for some time. Why have they been waiting? Well, I wanted to get them together with...

...their thane! This guy had been sitting almost complete for ages because I forgot how I painted the bases on the others. Eventually I decided to just come up with a scheme that matches closely enough and got him finished. Since then I've kept detailed records of my painting recipes for the army models, particularly my vampires because I really want them to look uniform. It's definitely worth having a record of what paints you used in what order if you're prone to experimenting with mixes!

These models, like most of the dwarves I own, are from the 7th edition starter kit Battle for Skull Pass and despite their simplicity I'm rather fond of them and pleased with how they came out. There's more to come on the dwarf front soon, but before then I think we'll be seeing a little 40k. :)

Finally, some of you may have noticed the new tab at the top of this blog. That's right, I'm adding a gallery! I've been looking for instructions for one I like and finally decided I'd just learn some simple code. Right now it's just a prototype, but I'll be filling it with photos as soon as I get a chance.

That's all for now. Thanks for looking and, as always, happy painting!

Please... No More Elves!

So among the models I painted over the summer were some high elves. Twenty horses to be exact - 5 Dragon Princes and 15 Ellyrian Reavers. The Dragon Princes were by far the most annoying to paint. They'd been bought secondhand from someone who built them before adding in the front legs, and had managed to make two horses with the wrong sides. It was a real mess, but luckily you won't have to see them as I didn't get any good photos. Instead you get to see the Reavers!

(Bases were left bare at the recipient's request.)

Now I've had my fill of elves. Painting lots of cavalry with lots of white and gems is painstaking work. Instead I'm working on my own vampire counts, trying to put a dent in the horde of undead still waiting to be painted on my shelf. These guys take a lot of work, too, but at least there's no white or gems.

With a little luck you'll see some finished pictures of these guys soon.  Anyway, I hope you like these and until next time - happy painting!

...aaaaand we're back!

Once again this blog has been quiet for a while and to my multitudinous - well, four - followers who no doubt have been wondering what had happened to my already irregular posts, I apologize. Things have been busy. Life (defined as a series of distractions and interruptions to your hobby) got in the way. Since the last post I finished my final year exams, went scuba diving, finished college, got an internship with a research group, finished college, did some commission work and did I mention I finished college? I don't know if you can tell but I'm pretty excited about having finished my degree. Well, excited's not the word. Terrified would be closer. I'm now doing my best to get back into college for some postgrad stuff and avoid actually working which is really tiresome. But in the meantime there are updates to be had and to show my commitment to my goals for this blog I'm going to share some that will be completed in the near future:

1. Vampire Counts - this army is still very much an active project for me and has come along a little since the spirit hosts were completed, and with the release of the undead legions army (yes I got Nagash, of course I got Nagash have you freaking seen him?!) I'm really eager to get these models painted. Expect to see grave guard, more skeletons, and zombies soon!

2. Dwarfs - no this army hasn't been forgotten. Actually I have more dwarfs painted than undead right now they're just not based. That will change soon as I'm going to enlist some help to do the boring bit of base coating the bases, and we'll finally discover what those mysterious models beside the thunderers were...

3. Eldar - my brother bought the new rule book and sucked me back into 40k, so I'm also working on my eldar army. To be honest I'll be pretty happy just to get the models fully assembled (the last few games have been played with a pair of legs to represent my wraithknight), but since a lot of models need to be painted in parts before assembly (tanks, the wraithknight, wraithguard with weapons over their chests) I'm not sure how that's going to be accomplished while working on the models above.

4. TT+1 pieces - it's been a while since I've painted anything to the best of my ability and I'm feeling a bit rusty. But I've got a ticket to Golden Demon and started working on an entry, so there'll be at least one of my better models on this blog in the next month!

I guess that's all for now. Next up will be some photos, so keep an eye out!

Happy painting!

Vampires Chapter 3: Ethereals

This blogs starting to get flooded with the undead! A short while ago I started a plog on Warseer for my vampire counts to help motivate me to finish the army. So far it seems to be working and the march of the undead continues; I present the first batch of ethereals - spirit hosts and a banshee!

Since making and painting these I've got some new tools for sculpting and found some more bodies. I intend to make some more in the future and try to improve the ghostly lower halves. I also want to try zenithal highlighting with undercoat on future models, starting with my hexwraiths, but for simple and quick models that look decent on the tabletop, these ain't too bad.

Happy painting!

Vampires Chapter 2: Skeletons

Contrary to the current mode of lots of zombies and/or ghouls, the core of my vampire counts army is based mostly on skeletons. I have 80 of them armed with spears, and have just finished painting the first 25. As tabletop troops I'm pretty happy with them, and I think the polished bone look of the army will look great when its finished. For now, enjoy some photos!

That's all for now. More vampires and dwarves are on the horizon, though, and I hope to have some TT+1 stuff to show soon, too. Until then, happy painting!

Slapdash Dwarves

So in addition to my vampires, I've been working on my BfSP dwarves that have been collecting dust for a while. I'd painted some of them before but decided I didn't like the colour scheme, so stripped them down and came up with a new one. The idea was to make them simple and quick to paint, so they're a little messy and I don't think they're the same standard as the vampires, but they look decent on the table. Anyway, photos!

(What's that to the left of that last dwarf? Coming soon...)

As you can see, I'm still using my vampire book as a background because I'm too lazy to put up the cloth one every time I'm taking pictures. Luckily it contrasts well with the green.

This is the first unit of about three BfSP sets, so got my work cut out but at least they don't take long to do. Until next time, happy painting!