Vylka Fenrika - Test Model #2

I really hope I can keep up this pace of posting. At least we're catching up on the number of posts I managed the last time I revived this blog. One thing I hope to do in the future is post more work-in-progress shots and maybe even some step-by-step guides, allowing me to eke out more material for my blog without actually painting more. (Although my painting process is less paint A, then B, then C as it is paint A, paint B, go back and fix A, maybe add some more shade to A, get bored painting C and start on another bit of the model until I feel like finishing C, and then fixing messy bits of A and B, and then C. I'm not sure this would be useful to anyone except as a warning.)

In the meantime, while I have recently completed some models and have one awaiting varnishing on my table, I also have a backlog of pieces of which I haven't shared any photos, and they'll carry the blog through at least another six posts. I will, however, make no further reference to the fact that they were completed some time ago, as this will help the blog seem more current and up to date. Ah, the magic of storytelling.

Right, onto the post (please imagine everything going wibbly-wobbly to the sound of a harp):

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A while back I painted a space wolf model for my brother, who has an entire space wolf army but doesn't like painting. The idea was to create a quick and easy-to-replicate colour scheme that I could either paint for him, or lay down the base colours and let him work on the details in his own time. This was the result:

Unfortunately, he didn't really like it. He wanted to move away from the 41st millennium colour scheme of the wolves which he thought was more than a little gaudy and cartoon-like. Fair enough. To be honest, while there elements of this paint job I really like, I have to admit there's room for improvement.

So, with 30K Vylka Fenrika as my inspiration and guide, I starting cooking up another colour scheme that was quick, easy to replicate, and reflected the gritty era of the Horus Heresy. It didn't take long for me to envision blasting various greys with an airbrush and then adding depth with washes. It sounded easy and I figured I'd have it ready the next time I saw my brother.

Several months later I dusted off the second test wolf and got to work:

Even the photos got better!

Despite the time lag I was delighted with the result, and so was my brother. I'm really happy with the grimdark, Christopher Nolan's Batman-esque vibe it has. It didn't even take too long to finish once I got started.

The greys were all airbrushed with two different tones (I think German grey and cold grey from Vallejo), washed with brown and black (GW washes), and edge-highlighted with a light grey (I want to say fortress grey, or whatever GW call that now). The bronze was warplock bronze highlighted with runelord brass and a little silver, with a brown wash somewhere in the middle. the rest was just filling in the details and making sure to use lots of dark washes to tie everything together.

Anyway, as soon as my brother gets round to giving me some actual units to paint, I hope to get a lot more of these guys done. Until then, happy painting!

The Long-promised Traitors

OK, be honest. How many of you thought this post would be another year coming? Really? Just me? Alright then. Well, you were right.

If you recall (or look back a couple of posts), before I took a break from blogging (and, indeed, painting) I said I had some cultist models on my painting table I was going to paint red. This was not a lie. I rarely lie, I just smile when I say improbable things and people assume.

Anyway, I did have some cultists on my table. I did plan to paint them red. I did eventually put that plan into action and here are the results.

 The eyes, I'll admit, are not great up close. Let me emphasise that these were painted with speed in mind, and they look alright at normal gaming distance.

They were painted as part of my "god I have to get something done" phase and I wanted them to be quick and easy, which they were. A base coat of red (for the cloaks) was airbrushed over the lot and the rest was brushwork. I'm particularly happy with the silver metal, which was just boltgun metal highlighted with mithril silver, then washed with brown, black, and sepia washes (not one after another, just as my own whims demanded - I also diluted them a little as I thought necessary).

The photos themselves were much longer in the making. Until quite recently I didn't own a tripod and took most of my photos with a phone. These pictures, I think you'll agree, are a big improvement. 

I have decided that the traitor forces are not really for me, though, so won't be painting any more cultists for a while at least (although there is a certain purple-armoured Astartes that might be appearing here in the near future).

Until next time, happy painting!

Reviving the Blog

Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust. There is no beginning without ending, no joy without sorrow, no life without- did you hear that?

The congregation leans forward and holds its collective breath as they strain to pick out the sound to which the minister has alluded. There is a pause, a heartbeat of silence, and then: clunk.

I heard it!

Something moved!

It's not dead!

Everyone is scrambling now, grief and dignity forgotten as they muddy their best blacks to reattach ropes. They heave, straining to raise the casket back from the depths in which they were about to bury it. Slowly, slowly it inches above the grass until, at last, the sweating, desperate crowd can lay it gently on the surface once more.

Once more there is a moment of expectant silence. The people shuffle closer, searching for any sign to confirm that what they heard was real.

Clunk.

Gasps and murmurs of excitement ripple through the gathering. Two men step forward. They brush aside the soil marring the inlaid brass proclaiming the occupant's name and begin prying away the lid with tools designed for digging graves. It isn't easy, and every crack of the wood elicits winces from the anxious onlookers, but with a final, ear-splitting squeal of metal parting from wood the lid falls away.

A hush falls. Even the minister moves in to get a better view of the occupant: still, unmoving. Seeing it like this, doubt creeps into the back of his mind, the same doubt he is certain is beginning to gnaw at everyone gathered. Before anyone can give voice to their fears, however, a woman steps up to the coffin and reaches in a hand. She checks for a pulse.

Hearts are in throats as she looks up with tears in her eyes, but with a smile uncontrollably plastered on her face. She nods - just a nod - and the crowd erupts. Tears of joy flow freely and the unfamiliar sound of laughter fills the cemetery.

People spring into action. A car is brought closer, and the two men lift the miraculously still-living blog into it. The woman accompanies it on the way to get help - a doctor, or perhaps a more dedicated writer. Everyone else is making calls or sharing the moment with their loved ones, before they, too, depart to spread the news or prepare their own visits to the blog as soon as it can receive visitors.

Eventually, only the minister is left. Slowly, he closes his book and sets it aside. He walks sombrely to the casket, pondering the significance of what has just occurred.

Ashes to ashes, he muses.

He lowers himself to the ground by the lid. With considerable effort, his ageing hands manage to flip it face-up once more.

No joy without sorrow, he thinks, wiping away a fresh stain from the brass plaque to read the words more clearly.

Tiny Works of Art

A blog gone before its time.

No life without death.

His gaze wanders back to the exhumed casket. Perhaps that rule just doesn't apply to this blog. This isn't the first time this has happened.

[That's right, I'm starting this craic again. Happy painting everyone!]