Lord of the Rings Battle companies pt1 and 2

A while back our gaming buddy Otty wanted to try Battle Companies and after many discussions on you only need a few figures and it wont take long to paint, I purchased some "Hunter Orcs on Fell Wargs" thinking one day maybe in 15 years time I will get around to it.  Afterwards I started thinking how did that happen? I have so much stuff to paint why did I buy more? then it struck me "I had been Gríma worm tongued", bugger! 

To continue with the ethos of what to do in lockdown while disheartened with 40K, I started to put the figures together and create rocky bases, using up some white milliput  The arms are a little small then what I am normally used too, but they are a only 20mm, but  I really like the Wargs though.  So I thought I would look at getting another pack then I spotted this on ebay:-

11 Hunter Orcs on Fell Wargs and 15 Wargs, GW sell the Hunter Orcs on Fell Wargs for £25 for 6 and 6 Fell Wargs for £20 to buy new would almost cost me £110.  So you could appreciate this caught my interest.  Sometimes I love ebay but I do feel very sorry for the person who sold these because I bought them for a steal, only £30...... wow that was lucky.  Not only do I have a Battle company, but I have almost enough for a full army.   

My idea was to do a step by step guide to speed batch painting, I thought I had emailed all the images off my phone before I deleted them unfortunatley I was wrong so I lost all the images so here are the finished Wargs, bugger!

These are the original 6 with milliput bases, I added some shields before I started painting them

And this is the full army, and base coated, ink wash with Agrax Earthshade and finally a dry brush highlight.  Very quick and fairly effective on mass.... :)

Project: Custodes Castellan Knight - Concept through to design pt2

Love it or hate it, my design for a Custodes Castellan Knight has had a mixed response, but enough of that, you have waited a long time for part 2 so lets dive in.  

I used the original shin armour from the Castellan and added 3mm plasticard to the sides and bottom and 1 mm plasticard as a guide to the front.  Once I placed the front  guide on a I placed more 3mm plasticard to the top but I forgot to take a photo.  

Now I had the desired skeleton structure I used car body filler to blend all the elements together, and sanded the filler to get a smooth finish.

I used the Legio Custodes Telemon Heavy Dreadnought as a guide for the leg armour.

Before I extended the legs I would need to create a base and feet to make sure everything fits together.  I used the broken Aquila from the Honoured Imperium scenery kit, and sculpted extra sections and extra cracks underneath the feet with Milliput.  You can also see I have changed the toes of the feet too.

I know it is hard to see in this image, but you can just see the extra plasticard I inserted into the legs to make them longer.

I used 1mm plasticard for the Aquila symbols on the leg armour and a Dremil to carve out the swirls on the other sections of the armour.  Just like the Shin guards I used the original armour and added plasticard and body filler to get the shape I needed for the thigh and arm armour.

Next time I will show you how I airbrushed it :)

Tau XV109 Y’vahra Battlesuit - Flying base Part 2 (WIP)

Just a quick update on my XV109 Y'vahra.  The basic colour scheme is on but the question is "blue flame" or "red flame"?  For weeks now I have been convinced it was going to be a red flame, but now it's half painted, I'm airing on the side of blue.  What's your thoughts?

Tau XV109 Y’vahra Battlesuit - Flying base

This is my first attempt at sculpting flames, which I am going to use as a flying base for my XV109.  As this is my first attempt it has it's problems, as in, the length of the flame coming out of the flamer is a little short, but that's due to the size of the base, I had to make do with the limited size and I didn't want to have him flying too high. and additionally and more importantly sculpting flames is hard :)

Once again I'm rekindling my love for Milliput.

I hope you like and hints and tips are welcome.

The Barracuda - So what is it? Part 4 Tau flying base

After many many hours of learning how to use an airbrush, I have finally finished my first airbrush project.  I have to admit that in the passed I would consider the use of  an airbrush as "cheating". but now after undertaking this project I wont be saying that again, it's true that the light effects are a lot easier the doing them with a brush but having to mask every individual panel was wxtrememly time consuming.

As this is my first attempt any hints or tips are welcome. or if you can identify any mistakes please don't hesitate to message, i hope you like it :)

So what is it? Part 3 Tau flying base

I just thought I would put a quick post together showing my work in progress, I have painted the torso and head of the Ethereal just to see the tonal qualities and I have air brushed the Barracuda a dark red, I personally feel that the contrast in colours will work well.

So what is it? Part 2 Tau flying base

Well that's it no going back, it's finished and it just needs a lick of paint and my most ambitious flying  base is ready to go.  I have added an Ethereal for scale, what do you think?

So what is it?

I have finally got over the come down from Throne of Skulls and the distraction of the Militarum Tempestus, time to set Chaos aside and start a new army.  I had intended on airbrushing my Riptides but I got a little distracted making this.... Believe it or not it's a flying base for my Barracuda, it's not quite finished but I thought I would share it, I am struggling with what to do with the plinth (which is made from the feet of the Forge World Tau sentry turret) - at the moment it's cut to the edge of the base, I thought it would overhang too much but now I'm not sure?

It's taken about a week to make and 3 and a bit packets of Milliput, I have used grey stuff for the head and the Tau Ceti flying base is 95x120mm this gives you an idea of scale. My intention is to paint it an off white which would create a contrast to the dark red Farsight Enclave Barracuda.

Chaos Shadowsword WIP part 2

Not long now..... 4 days to go before Throne of Skulls and still working through my army.  Although it's not in my list, this is my contribution to the Lords of War Painting competition and more WIP shots

Chaos Shadowsword WIP part 1

For those enthusiasts out there who spend 50% of their time looking for inspiration while the other 50% in their creative corners building and constructing.  I have images below that show how my Shadowsword / Fellblade cross breed came about.

Warning..... butchery and cheating may have taken place in the creation of this scratch built tank, you have been warned.

I used the central hull from a Baneblade kit and the tracks/wheels sections from a Lord of Skulls kits, all purchased from a bits store, obviously when they had a sale on at 33%, the total amount of bits purchased came to £10.50        bargain....  Most of the other parts have been taken from my bits box, Also I used 3mm plasticard for the top hull plating and 5mm foamex board for either side of the tracks. finally the detail and trim is 1mm plasticard.

 The Turret has been created using 3mm MDF board topped with 4 layers of 5mm foam board each one cut in decreasing sized circles and then covered in my secret ingredient???? "Ultra fine wall filler" its quick trying and easy to sand. A well placed cut piece of 25mm tubing glued on the side and there we have it, one symmetrical turret, well nearly.