Blood Angels Dread

Last day of 2010 brought pictures of new Blood Angels Dread and Stormraven but it slipped under my radar until BoLS pointed it out . Anyway we have 4 decent pics of Furioso Dreadnought. Quality of parts seems to match those of Sanguinary Guard. The ability to choose between three sarcophagous is very nice addition. Also that hudge halabard power weapon alongside with somewhat of psychic hood , tells us that fearsome Librarian Dread is on board.

Taking my love for Librarian minis of SM and of big guns, I will try to lay my hands of this set :)

Motorhead

Well after one of the most productive days of last month I might say I'm back in bussines. Sunday got the best of me and after one crazy painting marathon I managed to finish 3 of 6 commissioned bikes. Done accordingly to requests o client I think they pulled of really nice. I decided not to give them usual matte paint in order to make them look more like bikes really are, chromed and shiny, of course before I put some dust on them :) Funny trick was to make changable weapons on gunner seat. As it was my first try with magnets I think it's not bad. Next on the agenda I have that Rhino that needs a bit cleaning up after dose of washes and stuff, but the request is to make him more tank-like so stained, dirty

and chipped off ;)

I really need to take break from that commission stuff and paint something just to relax, cause lately I'm seeing to much atutomatism in my painting which results in dropping quality ;/ Maybe I'll work on something for LotR :D Also I need to print out some backgrounds and bring camera from home, cause those pics done with Xperia,well...they're not bad for WiP let's just say that ;)

As for usual music corner, the only piece that comes ot my mind when talking about bikes (As you can probably guess from title of post) :

A quick battle report

After several weeks I finally had a game of WARMACHINE. Once again I played against my brother's Protectorate of Menoth. Since neither of us has played for a longer while we decided to play starter vs starter. So it was: Denny, Slayer 2x Deathripper, Defiler and Kreoss, Crusader, Revenger and Repenter.
I started by quickly moving the bonejacks ahead to make sure I get a chance to use their arc nodes. It was a good idea as I quickly managed to hit Kreoss with Defiler's sludge cannon. As a result, my opponent was forced to roll each time he activated Kreoss to see if the corrosion has worn off. Fortunately for me, it never did and he kept losing valuable damage points. The tokens from PP I bought a while ago proved very useful as they clearly show the situation and the lasting effects of spells/damage. I lost at least two games simply because I would forget about these.
After my initial success my opponent hit back with all he had and after using Kreoss's feat managed to quickly turn the Slayer into a pile of scrap metal and did some serious damage to one of the Deathrippers. Still, I managed to block the way to Denny and keep the remaining active arc nodes in position for the final turn. I went for all the marbles and moved Denny closer to chickens and used the feat. I followed this by casting crippling grasp and a shot of poison from the Defiler who somehow remained functional after surviving attacks from both the Crusader and the Revenger. Kreoss who was already wounded couldn't have possibly survived that.
It was a fast-paced and pretty competitive game. Three big cheers go to my brother who is an excellent teacher when it comes to explaining the rules. What's more, he doesn't take advantage of his superior "procedural knowledge". Still, playing against him always proves a challenge.

The Great Meltdown

After several weeks of low temperatures and snow we are experiencing a great meltdown. The snow is disappearing and as a result the streets and pavements are slippery. Terrible weather, everything is either covered with water, ice or mud. As a result I'm staying at home most of the time. I'd prefer to go jogging and move around a little but the weather conditions do not permit it. Still, I have more time for painting which is not such a bad thing. I've caught up with my current commission and finished another batch of minis.
The Easterling cavalry - Kataphrakts are very nice models. I liked the concept the moment I saw first concept sketches in White Dwarf a couple of years ago. Heavily armored beasts with heavily armored riders, all clad in gold with the addition of red.

The archers were pretty much the same thing so I painted them simultaneously. The banners were given some extra attention.
Now I plan to paint some orcs and a few more Harad minis. After that I will probably finally take the plunge and start working on the 3 in 1 plastic helljack. Well, now that the parts for Malice have finally arrived it will actually be a 4 in 1 helljack.
And to finish off this entry, here's a sample of what I've been listening to a lot recently. Great ambient music, I often like to hear it in the background when I work.

Red Water

I'm still working on the Easterling warriors and it seems like it's taking me forever to finish them. I started in late December but the work got put off due to Christmas, visiting family, friends, etc.
I'm using the same color scheme that I chose for the previous batch of Easterlings. Painting red has always been time-consuming, especially when working on a larger number of minis at the same time. I always need to use several layers of paint, especially on the final highlight if I want to get a solid color. I typically use Mechrite Red (GW's foundation paints are a blessing!) to start off. This is followed by Vallejo (Game color) dark red (I cannot make out the exact name as it is hardly visible now but it's close to GW's Red Gore). This is highlighted with a 50/50 mix of Dark Red with Vallejo (model color) Flat Red. I finish off with several layers of Flat Red put on the protruding elements/layers of clothes that stick out. It's a fast method that gives a relatively nice result. The number of layers between the undercoat and the final highlight depends on how much time one wants to spend on a mini. While working on a single "character" model I also use black to fill in the recessess (for example here or here). It would probably be much easier with Andrea Red set - I'll think about buying it soon.



Anyway, here's how my workspace looked like yesterday. Since then I've moved on with the work and started working on the banners (my favorite part here as they give a chance to make a mini pop out nicely). I want to finish them by the end of the week and then work on some orcs.
OK, a nice little song to finish off thhis post. I use this one as an alarm signal. It starts slowly and becomes louder after a while. I'm usually awake after first few seconds so it works for me.

2010: Year in Review

2010 was a year of changes, both on personal and hobby level. And since I believe these were mostly changes for the better, I figured I'd write a brief summary here. So, here it goes, starting with non-hobby stuff. My achievements in 2010 (in chronological order):
- defending MA thesis at the Jagiellonian University. Five years of rather difficult studies, the last being the most enjoyable,
- renovating a flat and making a nice cozy nest for me and my better half,
- getting married and enjoying every day of living together with my wonderful wife,
- getting my first full-time job.

And on the hobby level:
- starting a hobby related blog with Haldir and keeping it alive (65 posts since March, not too bad for starters I guess),
- painted 179 minis (not all of them documented here). Fewer than in 2009 but I'm ovarall pleased with this number and hope to decrease it significantly in 2011. Instead of taking large commissions I want to focus on smaller paintjobs (single minis/small units) - unlike speedpainting this type of work allows one to actually develop painting skills. I personally find that speedpainting helps in getting a steady hand and smoothness of movement of the brush and that's about it.
- my painting highlight of the year,
- starting a WARMACHINE Army and painting it bit by bit,
- investing some money into better painting equipment (Andrea paints, wet palette, ceramic palette, buying some more Reaper and P3 paints),
- setting up a decent "painting corner" in my new place.

And that's about it. Now some resolutions for 2011:
- expanding my Cryx force (at least one more unit, some solos and a few jacks),
- playing more (4 games in 6 months isn't a good result by any measure),
- writing more and more often on the blog :)
- buy a car :]

And last but not least, all the best in 2011 to all the people who visit Independent Painters :)

The bigger they are...

PP is running a special Battle Engine week during which they will be presenting new resin models for Warmachine. I have to admit they do look impressive and can't wait to see models for other factions.The first one to be presented is Khador Gun Carriage (see pic below and the Insider at PP's website here).