Grimdark Poxwalkers

What could be scarier than 10 plague-ridden poxwalkers shambling towards you?

How about 30?!

I'd almost forgotten about these guys, but having remembered I have to go back on what I said in the last post - I did get something else painted over lockdown. Though I wasn't painting much, I was watching a lot of new painting content online and got inspired by the Grimdark style and Not Just Mecha's approach to painting and use of oil paints. I decided to give oil paints a try and fell in love immediately. 

An army I've been meaning to collect since I picked up an old metal Typhus model is the Death Guard, and between Conquest Magazines and a No Know Fear box I've got a small force put together. I wanted a project where I didn't have to worry about being precise because dirt and grime was the goal, and these guys fit the bill. After doing most of the work with airbrush and Contrast paints, I slapped a thick coat of black oil paint on, rubbed off the excess, and was left with some pretty awesome, disgusting Nurgle models. I spent a little more time adding highlights and details but all told they only took a few days for each batch (one of 20, one of 10) and I'm very pleased with the results.

A small selection of closeups:

Naturally, oil paints have become a staple on my painting table and you can expect to see me abusing them a lot more in the very near future.

OK, now I'm pretty sure I'm all caught up on what happened over lockdown. Everything else should be new stuff. Probably.

Until then, happy painting!

Vampires Chapter 8: Grave Guard

Dead? This blog? No no no no. It doesn't die. It's just been... slumbering for a while.

Yes we're back again. Not even a global pandemic can finish off this blog. You'd think I'd have got a lot of painting done during the various lockdowns, but the past year or so has been a burnout and my brushes have hardly seen any action. Things have started to pick up, though. This is the last of the old photos to share (completed pre-pandemic) and in the last couple of weeks I've found some time (and energy) to paint, so there'll be even more soon.

For now, here are my grave guard complete with freehand banner. These guys were actually started around the same time as my first lot of skeletons but have been sitting half-finished for ages waiting for one last push to see them done. Now they're just waiting for their own shelf in the display cabinet, because I have a lot of undead in there and I'm running out of room!

Close-up of the banner. The design is a raven silhouette. Probably could have practiced it a few more times before doing it. Hopefully the flying one sells it!

That's all for now. Until next time, long live the blog and happy painting!

Revisiting an old model: Space Marine Mark II

A long while back I painted a space marine captain from the Assault on Black Reach set. It was one of my early attempts to adapt an 'Eavy Metal painting guide and (at the time) I was pretty happy with the results (despite painting the ultramarine symbol upside down!). Then, not too long ago, I was rummaging around looking for a model to paint - I was in the mood to try putting a little effort into a paintjob, but not too much, and I found a second Assault on Black Reach Captain! It was one I'd traded for a while back - originally caked in thick paint I'd stripped it back as best I could and then forgot about it. So I decided to give him some love and see if my rescue attempt was worth it.

Here's the result:

I'm really pleased with the improvement over the old model - here's a side-by-side comparison:

I had a lot of fun painting him - it was especially nice to be able to aim for improvements without worrying about getting him perfect. I'm particularly pleased with how the paintjob (and the new base size) make him look larger and give him more presence than the older version.

Anyway, this was just a bit of fun to ease me into some more serious painting. I'm hoping to get a few more characters up here soon.

Until then, happy painting!