Here's the last WM mini I painted a while ago but haven't had time to show it here yet. It's another character jack called Scavenger. Nice model that has all that I like about WM models - exaggerated features so characteristic for the tongue-in-cheek approach to sculpting that the guys from Privateer Press have.
I placed this one on a much taller base. I thought it would suit this one and add to the slightly comical effect of thin-legged robot with torn wings. I also paid more attention to the bone parts, using two different colors for its jaws and teeth, trying to make them look ancient. I also worked a little more with washes and glazes on the metallic parts. I finished the mini off with more colorful types of flock that will keep this one in the theme I chose for the army.
As for the choice of music, there's only one song that comes to my mind:
It felt nice to paint something non-Lotr after a longer time. I decided to paint at least one model for my Cryx army since I was waiting for the black primer I ordere to arrive anyway. Skarlock is a mini that originally got me interested in WARMACHINE. I absolutely love the sculpt, it seems to be completely out of control. Putting it together wasn't so easy though, especially fixing the gaps on the soul token left after gluing it. It was a fairly quick paintjob as it took me one evening and one morning to complete it. I kept the colors dark with the addition of very light green on the soul token. I used similar technique to the one I employed while working on Tartarus, only with smaller amount of blue and much more green. I also used some purple as a base color for the skin, working it up with white. And that's pretty much it. I have only one more model in my WM backlog but I'll get to it a bit later. I have a few (nine to be precise) Nazgul to deal with. I'm still waiting for the remaining three but the rest is now ready for priming after being filled with quite a lot of GS but I'll write more about it tomorrow.
PP has finally released pics of Scaverous's helljack - Erebus. Looks pretty cool, especially for an upgrade kit. The only potential problem I see with it would be incorporating new elements into my jack.
The way it's put together makes adding new elements (removable of course) pretty tricky. Also, it would be nice to make Erebus stand out a little bit more (just like in the PP's version - those runes or whatever it is on its armor look pretty cool). I guess I'll simply end up buying the upgrade kit and getting hold of another plastic set or a metal Slayer/Reaper and work on this one separately.
I'm lost for words so just to keep it short, here's the pic of Lord Exhumator Scaverous in his full undead glory:
A few more words from his description: A specialist in the acquisition of lore from the dead, Lord Exhumator Scaverous is one of the most potent and intelligent servants of the Nightmare Empire. Souls are both ammunition and fuel for Scaverous. Those he slays and casts aside are fortunate compared to any possessed of special lore, whose skulls and souls he preserves for horrific necromantic interrogation. Make sure to check out the PP website for a 3D view.
I love the sculpt, great that PP released an entirely new model that does not bear striking resemblance to any other Cryxian casters/jacks.
At this point I'm glad I started with buying Bane Knights as Privateer Press has just revealed the version of these minis. My guess is that they're plastic. Should look great on the battlefield, especially with the unit attachment. I'll probably get them sooner or later. Anyway, here's a pic.
More (including a 3D rotation view) can be found here.
I'm currently waiting for a batch of minis I ordered a while ago at Maelstrom games (a Skarlock, new jack and some minis from a new skirmish system that I want to get into - more on that soon ;).I should get them somewhere around next week. Until then, I'm idle as far as hobby is concerned. No commissions and no backlog - feels a bit weird. Still, I haven't posted any pictures of the second Pistol Wraith.
I love the idea of dead gunslingers who roam the battlefield. They aren't powerful but combined with Denny's debuffs and the ability to ignore obstacles in their way can make them annoying. I've already painted the second version of Pistol Wraith and wanted to use a different color scheme on this one. I wasn't happy at all with the cloak (which in fact constitutes most of the mini) until I've highlighted the edges using much brighter colors. It's definitely not my best work but still I guess it looks OK.
I wasn't able to find a song that would suit the character of the model but so this one will have to do.
Had a solid painting session with my younger brother yesterday. I managed to paint one complete mini during a late afternoon/late evening sit-down. Gorman should make a very helpful addition to my slowly (but steadily) growing Cryx force. He should add some firepower with his grenades and the his Smoke Bombs should provide some cover for my caster. It's so much more enjoyable to work on one mini at a time instead of painting a larger batch of models simultaneously. It allows you to plan better and focus more closely on highlighting everything in a more coherent way. I started by preparing a base. I used wine cork for the stone. Putting Gorman on it gave the model a little more dynamic pose. I also usually start painting the base first as I do it mostly using the good 'ol drybrush technique, which makes getting unwanted traces of paint on the model all to easy. Still, at this stage it's not a problem. I wanted to paint him using mainly dark shades of brown and gray with some blues and greens to add a little variety. Only the lenses on his mask were painted with red highlighted to yellow as I thought a little bit of a warmer color should fit in nicely (the frontal silver piece looks much brighter in the pic than irl). I also wanted a color scheme that would match my other painted Cryx units. Overall I'm pleased with the effects though I didn't manage to take a picture that would show everything well. Probably too much light today and that's why the model seems to be a bit too shiny (even though I used an anti-shine matt varnish). As you can see I also painted the marks for front and back arc on the rim of the base. I've seen different approaches to it, some that I didn't like too much (like painting half of the rim in a different color). I went for a quick and easy solution ans simply added two thin vertical lines on the sides of the base. I highlighted them so that they are clearly visible but at the same time don't affect the overall look of the model. And as a bonus, a mini that my brother started painting. It's still a work in progress but I really like what he's done so far. His Idrian Skirmisher Chieftain is coming along nicely so far.
Now back to the brush, since I am currently on a sick leave, I plan to deal with my backlog (only one WM model remaining !!).
I've recently completed my biggest WARMACHINE hobby project - fully magnetized Cryx helljack. I posted a few WIP pics a while ago. Painting it was very enjoyable, though a bit tiresome at times. Working on several similar models (or rather parts in this case) can be a bit tiresome. I can't really say which one I like the most as they all turned out OK (at least in my humble opinion). I guess Slayer has to be my favorite here. I am quite happy with the dynamic pose I managed to put this one into. You can see him in the pictures compared to the metal version I painted a few months ago. Painting these guys assembled would be a pain in the neck. Their weapons have so many details placed at weird angles that reaching them with brush would be virtually impossible. The sculpts are pretty much out of control and Corruptor is a good example with his Necrojector and Sludge Cannon. I have to admit that I didn't really do my best with the painting on these guys. Not my best effort as I was rushing things a bit. Still, I just wanted to get a solid 'tabletop' look without cutting corners too much while painting. The Reaper looks a bit like some kind of beetle. At least this was my first thought when I put him together. I left Malices' addition to the harpoon glued permanently as making this part detachable would be pretty tricky. Malice was the hardest one to work with as it took me a while to come up with an idea to incorporate all the elements. Magnetizing the soul tokens and placing the magnets randomly on the main body did the trick. I wanted the soul tokens to be very bright and stand out against the dark color of armor. I did it this way to make sure they are distinct enough and easy to notice while gaming (it's so easy to forget little details like extra tokens in the middle of a challenging game). I used Vallejo pigments for the rust effect. They are very easy to use and they give a pretty realistic rust effect. Combined with a pigment fixer (definitely a must while working with natural pigments), they don't chip off easily. So, here it is, once again in its full unholy glory:
Thanks for reading and watching. Any kind of feedback is appreciated :)
I've finally put together my plastic helljack and magnetized it. I will briefly describe the whole process in this post. The first thing I knew I wanted to change was the pose. I've already worked on one cryxian jack in the past and wasn't happy with how static he looked like in the end. Working with plastic posed some potential problems. I knew I wanted to somehow bend his legs. I was racking my brains until I came up with a simple yet effective solution - water. It turned out that putting plastic parts in boiling water makes them very flexible. Bending them into virtually any form becomes a piece of cake. One thing worth noting though - once you've bent it and are happy with the pose, immediately put it under cold water. Otherwise it may bend itself back. As you can see in the picture above, one leg has been stretched considerably. It was also important to bend the feet so that they would fit the sloping rocks I used on the base. I also used pliers and slightly twisted the lower part of his body to add a little more dynamics to the pose. Once I've dealt with the legs, it was time to start working on the magnets. I won't go into details here as there have already been plenty of very good step by step tutorials on how to do it. My main problem was that due to lack of specialist tools (electric drill would have come in handy...). I needed to get the work done with the use of a regular hobby drill and hobby knife. It was a painstakingly slow work. In the end I had to use modelling putty to fill in the crevices left after cutting out the holes for magnets. I also added some scratches to the armor. If you're wondering about the sand glued randomly to the armor, it's going to become corrosion in the painting stage. It's actually not my idea - my brother (who is a layman in the field of hobby but is a smart guy who has lots of good ideas ;) suggested adding something or somehow roughening the surface covered by rust. He made this suggestion after looking at my painted bonejacks and I immediately saw potential for following his advice. In the pics you can see the effects of my work. I'm particularly pleased with the Slayer. It's easy to see that the extreme sculpt version was my main source of inspiration here.
The Corruptor and Reaper were also fun to work with. Initially I was worried that the magnets may be too weak to hold their long arms in place but fortunately everything worked out well in the end (as you can see in the clip below). Malice was the trickiest one here as I wanted to somehow incorporate the soul tokens and magnetize them as well. After toying with the idea for a longer while I came up with a solution. Unlike the original version, in which the tokens are glued the the area surrounding the cortex, I placed magnets in two different places, one on the armor above the head and the second one in the middle of the (I've no idea how to call this part, guess I'll just refer to it as 'exhaust pipe' until I've found the proper name). The third soul token can be placed in the rocks on the base. After painting I will glue some static grass around it so that the whole won't be visible. I glued the additional element to the harpoon as I saw no way it could be magnetized. Still, I don't think it would make using the model as Reaper impossible.
And to wrap things up, here's a short video showing how it all works out in practice.
Looks like the Revenant Crew is going to get more firearm support. PP showed a few Upcoming Releases today and the Rifleman is one that I like the most, check him out: The undead Cryx minis are absolutely amazing, they're one of the main reasons I chose this army. I'll be definitely buy this one, along with the whole crew but I need to deal with my backlog first. Speaking of which, the plastic helljack has already been magnetized and is almost ready for painting. I will post an update soon.
Well, maybe not that kind of jack. Anyway, I finally have some time to lay my hands on the Cryx helljack plastic set that's been waiting deep in the drawer for a few months. I've already painted the metal Slayer from the battlegroup box. It was fun but I think I would have done it differently now. The model is great but the way I put it together doesn't make it look dynamic at all. This time I want to do some conversions, bend it into a more dynamic pose and of course magnetize it.
That's how it looks like at the moment, all the parts waiting to be used (I forgot to put up Malice's parts for the pic. Some serious drilling will take place now, though I won't get medieval on this one ;) I have a pretty good Idea how to do it, so stay tuned :)
PP has finally revealed how the Wrath Engine looks like. I totally dig it, the sculpt combines technology with the unique, somehow alien, Cryxian look.
If you want to read more about it, check out the latest insider on PP website.
I've finally managed to deal with some of my own backlog. I've painted the remaining four bane thralls which means that the unit is now complete. I wanted to give them a cohesive look that would combine metallics with purple (a color of choice for my Cryx army - I'm trying to add a touch of it, at least to the units). I basically speed painted them as I only want a solid tabletop quality for my units, otherwise it would take ages to paint them all. I really like the sculpts, the fact that they are all multi part means that there's great potential for alternative poses. I tried to give each of them a slightly different pose. Still, my favorite part has to be the skull, I like the brow-like thingy around their eyes, gives them a kind of demonic look (of course in the WM-tongue-in-cheek way). So, here's my first complete WM unit.
Hopefully other units will follow in the future. I'm thinking about Bile Thralls as I like the sculpts and they have some potential within the game. But then the Satyxis Raiders look even more impressive. As you can see, the hobby aspect is the most important criterion for me ;) Bane Lord Tartarus was a challenge. First of all, the sculpt. Lots of parts that needed to be glued in a position that made painting some of the areas of his armor a bit tricky. Before painting I quickly checked for some background information on the model. This sometimes helps, at least it can give some inspiration. In this case it turned out to be a good idea. As a human, Tartarus was known as Horfar Grimmr, a powerful Molgur chieftain who suffered an agonizingly slow (one month of "purifying" tortures) death that was supposed to remove the taint from his soul. His tormented soul wandered in the shadows for centuries to be retrieved by the lich lord Tenobrous who joined with remains of some of the defeated warrior-kings. Together with a rune-inscribed armor and the unholy axe Rivender, he became a force to be reckoned with. His most impressive skill is the ability to travel easily between the human and the spirit realm. This story is nicely reflected in the game as he can turn killed warrior into a grunt in his Bane unit. With Reach, Weapon Master and special attack (Thresher), he is able to wreak havoc in the enemy lines (at least before he's taken down since he's not too tough...). Knowing the background, I tried to give him a more ghostly look. I also wanted to make sure that he stands out among the Bane swarm. started with the whirlwind-like thing at the bottom. I liked the effect and decided to add more of a similar color on the model. I ended up making it a bit too bright but I'm rather pleased with the effect anyway. It took me a while to come up with an idea to paint his axe. Initially I wanted to give it a greenish-blueish look but in the end decided that some variety would be a better option. My younger brother said that now it looks a bit like a living organism. I like this idea :) Now I have another batch of the Easterlings waiting for me. Archers, cavalry and two banners. I think I'll end up finishing them in January as the last days of December will probably be quite busy. Almost forgot - for today's music corner, a song that somehow seems suitable ;)
Since work has been obliterating my free time recently and I haven't done any significant progress on my current commission I thought I'd start a new series of entries at Independent Painters. Each week on Sunday I'll be posting a link to a tutorial/picture/video related (or vaguely related) to the hobby. These will be mostly things that will be particularly useful for me, so you can expect links connected with Privateer Press, Cryx, and painting in general. I will simply be stuffing things that I've either already found useful or other that I want to have a crack at in the future. So, to make a long story short, here's something that has struck me as simple yet very effective. An excellent guide on painting dead flesh found at BOLS.
I will definitely give it a go as I love the effect of veins showing through the skin.
As Haldir said in one of the earlier posts, we've both been pretty busy recently. I started working full time as a teacher. Together with my second job at the language school and private tutoring and all the red tape (I never imagined there's so much of it in public school), it meant that I haven't had much free time... I teach 8 different classes at school and even though it's a job that I like, it was quite time-consuming initially. Especially taking into the fact that I needed a while to collect cash from the students and order the course books. Life of a teacher is sooo much easier with them :)
Anyway, here's a unit I've been working on recently. I basically speedpainted them using mainly Vallejo permanent metallic colors and citadel purples. I was aiming at a method to paint them quickly but at the same time to maintain a solid tabletop look. I thought that this break away from the traditional color scheme and a touch of purple would add some life to these guys. Well, life may no be the most appropriate word here but you know what I mean ;)
I still have four more grunts to complete the unit and Lord Tartarus to lead it into the fray. I like these minis, the fact that they are multi part means that it's relatively easy to have several different positions.
In the meanwhile I will be working on a large commission...
Lots of Lotr minis, some really nice sculpts (Khandish chariots, Abrakhan Guard, many Easterlings and a few others). I will probably start with the Khandish infantry so expect an update soon.
And to finish off, here's a song from a band which name is somehow related to the color scheme on my Bane knights.
I've been looking for something like this for a longer while. The first place to start was of course IKEA. They had a few similar glass cases but they were much larger and much heavier. I wanted something smaller that I could add into my rather confined space. I finally found this one at allegro.pl (something like Polish ebay). Quick measurement proved that the size was perfect.
So, here it is. I've already put all my Cryx minis inside. Seems pretty empty at the moment but it will be full when I receive a large batch of minis for the next commission.
Meanwhile, I started working on a unit of Bane Knights. I've already painted one (you can check it out here) to try out a color scheme. Now I'll be working on four more grunts + the leader.
I really like the sculpts. They are made up of so many parts that it's fairly easy to make sure that each one has a distinctly different pose. I still have four more and Tartarus that I will be painting later on.
It takes a while to prepare them as I pin the arms to the torso and then use Green Stuff to strengthen the link. It just seems that their arms are so thin that they need a little more strengthening.
Well, that's it for the time being. Just to keep up with the tradition of ending a post with a song, here's a (completely unrelated content wise) a pretty cool parody I've come across recently.
It's been a while since my last post here and I cannot let Haldir take over the blog entirely, so here I am again :)
Not much has been happening hobby wise - I'm in the process of renovating a flat for me and my better half. Basically it's a land of dust at the moment but it should be more or less ready by the end of next week. I did however manage to play my first two games of WARMACHINE. I haven't had much time to study the rules and i figured that learning by playing would be the best solution anyway. Fortunately my younger brother has been playing it for a few weeks now and knows the rules pretty well.
So we started with starter vs. starter set. That's probably the easiest way to get a grasp of the rules. I felt quite hopeless in my first game as I was initially overwhelmed by the combat system and pretty much everything else. Basically my brother kept on telling me what to do and somehow I ended up winning. Beginner's luck I guess.
The second game was much better and I felt more at ease. Everything that seemed difficult at first was now much more easily digestible. This time it was me who lost but after an interesting and competitive game. I tried using Denny's feat early on in the game and ended up almost killing Kreoss. Yeah, almost...
Anyway, it was a good game and I learned much more about WARMACHINE. Enough to see that it's a pretty cool game. I still need to learn how to play my cards. Literally. Having to read the description of a spell before using it in game instead of knowing everything that is available and using all the options seriously limits the chances of winning.
To finish off this post, here are a few shots of a Bane Knight I painted a while ago. It was a test model painted in order to try a color scheme. I am overall happy with the result and I think that a whole unit will look nice on the table. I won't have many opportunities to paint in the next few weeks so this is probably the last pic of a painted mini from me for the time being.
I'm still waiting for the remaining four grunts and Tartarus that I ordered from Maelstrom Games a while ago. They are still waiting for some of the Privateer Press bits to come in to stock from their supplier so my order was split. I have already received the second Pistol Wraith (what a great mini, I cannot wait to painting it!), Gorman Di Wulfe (mighty useful in battle though the mini itself isn't that nice) and the Cryx force book. There have been quite a few good reviews of it in the blogosphere so I'm not going to write anything about it here. I can just add that the artwork in it is absolutely amazing, some really great renditions of the Cryxian casters, jacks and solos.
Well, that it for now. I will probably write more about my introduction into the world of WM soon. Cheers, Viruk
Here's the last WM mini I painted a while ago but haven't had time to show it here yet. It's another character jack called Scavenger. 
Nice model that has all that I like about WM models - exaggerated features so characteristic for the tongue-in-cheek approach to sculpting that the guys from Privateer Press have.
I placed this one on a much taller base. I thought it would suit this one and add to the slightly comical effect of thin-legged robot with torn wings. I also paid more attention to the bone parts, using two different colors for its jaws and teeth, trying to make them look ancient. I also worked a little more with washes and glazes on the metallic parts. I finished the mini off with more colorful types of flock that will keep this one in the theme I chose for the army.
