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!]

Oh my head. Where am I? How long have I been out? Who's been looking after my blog? What do you mean nobody! Get out of my way, you fool! I have pictures to upload!

So this blog has been silent for a while. Not because I've been in unconscious or in a coma for the past however many months it's been - that didn't happen, don't worry. Mostly I haven't had as much as I'd like to add.

But in my absence things have happened. Fantasy died and the age of Sigmar was created from what I can only assume was the afterbirth from the 9th edition that Games Workshop meant to release but lost, or dropped on its head. I'm pretty upset about this and am reluctant to paint any more fantasy miniatures for the near future.

Other things that happened include my getting a job - part of the reason I haven't painted as much lately - got accepted back into college - undoubtedly the reason I won't paint as much as I'd like in the near future - and I swear there was a third thing but I actually had to take a break writing in the middle of this sentence so two things will have to do. There you're all caught up.

Anyway with fantasy gone I'm working on my 40k, starting with finishing off my Ultramarine Allied Detachment. Here are the terminators:

These were actually a lot of fun to paint (although freehanding all those symbols and the hazard lines on the power fists took ages). I'm particularly proud of the sergeant's face - a huge improvement on my tactical squad sergeant's!

In front of me as I write this are a whole bunch of cultists with sand and pva glue drying on their bases. With luck they'll be undercoated tonight. I intend to paint them in a red colour scheme so they can be Khorne Daemonkin Cultists, but I'm not totally set on that yet. I also have the dreadnaught from Assault on Black Reach, but he will have a different style to the rest of my ultramarines as I don't want him as part of that allied detachment. Finally I have my eldar, pictures of which have been promised for some time. They are on the "to do" bench but have incurred a number of setbacks with glue (getting those wings to stick without pinning is the goal) and I decided to change their colourscheme. If nothing else there will be a teaser of their bases with the next update.

Until then, happy painting!