40k Skaven - Squaduary Week 1 Progress, 40k Skaven - The Build

Things have gone far better than I expected and I've forged ahead. Behold the light of progress!

If you missed my earlier post, these beasties are to be used on the field as Adeptus Mechanicus, so you might recognise some familiar weapons. I was worried that the conversions would take way too long, but handily it turns out that the Skitarii arms are almost compatible with the Stormvermin kit (read compatible very loosely). They did have to be cut about a bit and filled extensively (especially in the back), but it wasn't too onerous and I'm really happy with how the squad is coming together. I have finished these guys, but I'm waiting on an infusion of fresh parts to build the Alpha from.

I've also added all manner of techno bits to them to help sci-fi up the look. Luckily the Stormvermin armour is already most of the way there, so the occasional dial or switch easily knocks them right out of fantasy and into the grim darkness.

In line with my pledge, I've also been working on a character - a mighty Rat-Dominus. He is still under the knife so to say, so tune back in a day or two to see how he fares!

Squaduary 2018 - The Pledge, 40k Skaven

After the success of last year's Squaduary, I'm entering again this year; with a vengeance!

For those who missed it, Squaduary is a community event where bloggers pledge to paint a squad in February with updates every week. The event is usually split across the 4 weeks; with one week for building, one for basecoats, detailing and basing respectively. It doesn't fit my style that well though as I suck at batching!

Like last year, the event is being run by Stepping Between Games (http://steppingbetweengames.com), so be sure to check them out for more info and to see how the month unfolds. Entry is open to everyone via social media, so you don't have to have a blog as such.

Last year I hit my goat of a completed 10 man squad, and this year I want to do even better. I was torn between a few different projects that I could potentially work on, as I really wanted to do something interesting and different.

Some miniatures I painted for last year's Squaduary

Handily, a few years ago I made a rather half-assed attempt at starting some 40k Skaven. At the time, I got hung up working out how to actually build the infantry. I was left with a box of Stormvermin, some Clanrats and a few fanciful ideas. This Christmas I was given  a box of Storm Fiends by my brother and I was again captivated by Skaven in an instant. With that, the project sprung back to life, and I set to work picking up the last few bits to make it a reality.

For this year's event, I'm pledging a unit of 10 Skaven equipped as Skitarii Vanguard. I'm also going to try to complete a Skaven Dominus to lead the force as a stretch goal if I can make good progress on the infantry. I think the rules for Adeptus Mechanicus will line up well with what I have envisioned for Skaven in the future; kind of tech-oriented with a lot of pyrotechnically impressive weapons!

More than the painting, I'm worried that I won't be able to build them fast enough, so I'm trying to keep the conversions fairly intuitive. This is going to be important for the force going forwards as well, as I need to be able to produce them quickly enough that it will actually be possible to complete more than one or two of them. They need to look plenty futuristic though, or the project will be a failure. It should be quite a demanding. 

I also have the Storm Fiends which I plan to use as Kastelan Robots with a bit of conversion as they are heavily armoured and about the right size. Maybe I'll be working on them for Monster March if Squaduary goes well!

...and I'm gonna do it all, in 4 weeks!

Painting Necromunda Scenery

Since Christmas I've been hard at work on the new Necromunda range. Rather than heading straight to the gorgeous minis like usual, I actually started with the scenery. I have to admit that I was a little surprised myself, but seeing the parts in person really captivated my imagination.

I wanted to get them ready for use in some games I had planned, so I chose a scheme that wouldn't bee too demanding technically. More importantly, I wanted to capture a really grimy worn underhive look. In my imagination I was aiming for some sort of ancient rusty waterworks/sewer looking thing. I wanted them to match the boards from the box closely as well.

It's strange, as I had originally intended to ignore the boards mostly and move on to playing multi-level style like the old Necromunda, but having painted the scenery and played a few games on it now, I can say that I really like the cramped conditions. It feels different; which is something I wasn't expecting and actually I felt added a lot of flavour to the game (which could have basically just felt like a 40k Infinity hybrid).

Paint wise, I started with some standard GW Black spray undercoat. After that I gave the whole set a coat of Leadbelcher. I generously stippled Ryza Rust on to the relevant areas. A few layers helped build up a bit of texture for the rusty bits. I then washed the whole thing down with black (which I mixed myself so as not to waste too much pre-made wash as I was using a lot!). The next step was to add the oxidised verdigris type parts. For this I made a mix of 1/2 Vallejo Blue Green, 1/4 Vallejo White, and 1/4 Vallejo Olive Green. I thinned this own to a wash and then applied it to the relevant areas (cracks and places where water would pool). I was quite generous in giving it a good coat as I wanted a strong effect. The last thing I did was give the parts a light drybrush (literally just for the edges) of Runefang Steel to bring out the shapes a bit and give it some depth. It also makes the edges look a bit more realistically chipped.

That pretty much sums up the painting. The only other thing I did was go back and add some OSL (Lights). This was pretty quick. I used the airbrush to spray the lights and the areas around them with white. I then went over this with yellow. I hit a larger area with the yellow to fade the effect across the surface a bit. after that, I painted the internals of the lights with light yellow.

Anyway, I'm happy with the way they came out and I think they match the boards well. I also painted all of the consoles and additional bits. I blasted some of them up pretty fast though; especially that tentacle thing that I wet-blended pretty messily!

If you enjoyed this article, check back later as I'll be working on my Escher gang. I should also mention my Necromunda ganger names generator, for those who missed it:

https://tabletopapocalypse.blogspot.co.uk/2017/09/necromunda-ganger-names-list-over-500.html

Tau Ghostkeel Battlesuit - 4 Hour Speed Paint

As a bit of a challenge, and for a bit of a change of pace, I painted this Battlesuit (and the 2 drones) over the weekend. I had the idea that I would try to paint it to a high standard as fast as I could. With that in mind, I thought I would aim for about 3 hours on the main suit (with some additional time given to the drones that I didn't really factor in). In the end, he came in at 4 hours 30 minutes, but that includes 30 minutes on the drones. I also ended up applying the undercoat with the airbrush rather than a spray can due to the cold weather and that ate up at least 20 minutes or something. Still, I'm happy with the results and it made for a great Sunday afternoon slice of hobby.

Colour wise, I painted the body with a black through to white blend (2 layers of grey there in the middle). I went back and added a bit of Vallejo Dark Prussian Blue to the recesses to get some interest and to stop it being so monotone. I highlighted the upper edges of the panels with Vallejo white.

I painted the base with Vallejo Cavalry Brown, washed it with Khorne Red and then progressively drybrushed Vallejo Orange Brown, Rakarth Flesh and Pallid Wych Flesh. For the OSL bits, I airbrushed in a dot of Vallejo Escorpina Green. I then washed the area with Waywatcher Green and highlighted with Moot Green and then a mix of Moot Green and white.

That pretty much sums it up. I hope you like the finished mini. Did you notice the incredibly unintentional mistake (one of his lower legs is on the wrong way round! Whoops!!). I plastic glued it too, that sucker is permanent! Luckily, it doesn't notice really. I only worked it out half way through painting him.

100,000 Hits - A Benchmark in Blogging

Well, I finally got to 100,000 hits! I haven't been very active on the hobby front for a month or two, as I've been taking a bit of a break from all things Wargaming related to focus on a few other hobbies that I have going on at the moment.

Regardless of all that, I logged in this morning to the rather pleasant news that Tabletop Apocalypse was still chugging away and that over night Google had delivered the hundred or so hits that I needed to reach 100,000.

I would say that I feel surprised at how successful things have been, but honestly when I started, I figured almost anything on the internet would generate thousands of hits regardless of how interesting it was; I mean there are a lot of people out there and they use the internet a lot right? Blogging should be easy .... right?

Unfortunately, it turned out to be a lot harder than I thought. That said, I get a few hundred views most days now, but when I started it was hard to get a few dozen. In particular, the fiction seems to go down like a wet balloon with several holes in it, but as I enjoy writing it, it won't be going anywhere soon. I guess nobody really wants to read infantile comedy fiction on a blog that is mostly about painting.

Advertising wise, that ad for Play Asia has generated a wallet-crushing $2 of store credit for me. Maybe in another 10 years, I can get something in the sale. Well worth the effort! On the upside, winning the GK competition has left me with a rather large backlog of free anime figures to paint ... probably at least 2 years worth...

Overall though, I'm calling it a win. I haven't been posting a lot lately, as like I said, I've been on a bit of a break. With Christmas on the horizon, I'm sure there will be a few miniatures coming to drive me out of temporary retirement!

Thanks to anyone who reads the blog regularly, as I doubt I would still be posting without  regular commenters and fellow bloggers. If there is anything you'd like to see more of, chuck a comment below and I'll see what I can conjure up! (People want a lot more Bungo the Barbarian right????....right???)

Necromunda Escher Paint Scheme - Test Miniatures

I've been making some good progress on the Escher gang this week, and today I'm presenting the first finished miniatures. I actually meant to post this article when I finished the first one, but as I was a day or two late, I finished a second one! At this rate the gang will be ready to fight in no time!

For the colour scheme, I really wanted to evoke the classic look that Necromunda always had; with bright colours and patterns. I'd always fancied having a go at paining an army "2nd edition" style, so the gang was a great chance to take a trip down memory lane without having to commit to it as permanently as painting a whole army would've been (I think  have enough armies at this point too...).

It seems that the classic colours for Escher gangers tended to be yellow, so I wanted to work that in there. I've also gone with bright blue and some reds (especially on the weapons) to get that old skool primary colour mash-up going on. I've done a few areas with hazard striping too as it is classic, and not that hard really. I got a lot of practice in on the technique while I was painting my genestealer cult.

Vertical striped leg? I don't know if I'll be attempting that again soon. I do like the green hair ends though.

The old miniatures stand up pretty well considering that they're about 20 years old! I think the original game had great styling for the time, and the proportions are pretty decent. When I think back on the old mono-pose plastics that I used to collect compared to these, I really have to ask myself why I didn't buy more Necromunda at the time.

Hazardous!

The pictures could be a bit better, but I really wanted to get these up on the blog before I painted any more of them. Hopefully they'll be facing off with Ed's Goliaths soon!

Necromunda Escher Gang - The Build

I'd like to say that I've had these sitting around for the last 20 years waiting for the new edition of Necromunda. Unfortunately, that dubious honour goes to some guy that I bought them off of on eBay. I was fortunate enough to get a decent deal though, as with the announcement of the new version of what most people had assumed was a long dead game the prices have skyrocketed.

I was involved in the hobby in the 90s when Necromunda was a thing, but as a penniless kidd, I couldn't afford to play more than one game, which at the time was Warhammer Fantasy. Still, I've always had fond memories of Necromunda, so I was excited to hear about the new version of the game. I do have a few Necromunda figures in my collection, but no actual gangs as they were mostly bitts I bought from the old mail order system because I liked them - like the old Ash Wastes gang sniper. Good times.

Rather than my usual backing, I'm using an old video cassette. I wanted to use something as old as the miniatures!

Anyway, I got to talking to my brother (Ed from the BERSERKERBLADE blog) and we talked about splitting the new box game for Christmas; which should be cool. To add an extra level of fun, we thought we would try and get a head start by scrounging together a few old models, or building a few new ones, so that hopefully we'll have a small force ready to deploy on the day.

I know that Ed will be converting some Goliaths using some chunky Bloodbound warriors (I've given him some cool bits to work with, so I'll be excited to see what he comes up with). Unfortunately, finding modern analogues for Escher gangers was a lot harder, and after a bit of searching I decided to stick with the originals.

Today, I'm presenting the first wave of posts about this project. I've got the miniatures together and ready for paint. In the end, I had to do a few conversions in order to repair some damage; such as the chainsword that I added in place of a missing sword blade or the shotgun ganger that I had 2 of, so I've swapped it for a lasgun and modified the head.. It still seems strange that in the original game they used to encourage conversion as your characters developed. With fully metal models and separate sprues of guns, you have to wonder what kind of maniac would even attempt it!

Paint-wise, I'm looking to combine some modern and traditional techniques; with plenty of hazard stripes, cheques, black flames and patterns. We'll see how that goes, but if I can, I'll try to put some tutorials together to help people with their own projects. If I'm feeling brave, I might even try my hand at some tattoos. After all, it isn't really Necromunda without a few bright colours and some throwback styling!