Finished - Ork Big Gun

No idea why this conversion jumped to the front of the painting line. Maybe it was getting excited about defogging my Battlewagon or maybe it was seeing piece of shit Earthshaker Cannon poking out of my bits box. Perhaps it was because I was too drunk to paint but you are never too drunk to ruin a mini by converting it to Orks.

All I did was glue some magnets to the bottom of the Earthshaker platform that matched where the magnets are on the top of the 'ard Case bit for the Battlewagon. After that, I just glued a bunch of crap to it. There is not really a formula to it. I also put some magnets on the cannon s it locks in either a level or elevated position.

I regret that I didn't magnetize the whole cannon so it was removable. That would have been useful for Weapon Destroyed results but also if I wanted to use this mount for a Liftadroppa or other weapon.

This would make a good proxy for a Kill Kannon if it was not for the fact that the gun is fixed and does not rotate. 

Vyndica - Painting Test Mini

I was contacted by Nate from Vyndica, my preferred trading site, saying that he is starting up a service for painters called, oddly enough, Vyndica Paint. He asked if I would like to test run the service for him but painting a single mini. We settled on a Haemonculus with an open timeline. It didn't seem fair to make him to pay to test out his new service so I offered to do it pro bono as long as I had an open timeline.

He linked me to another commission of Dark Eldar and wanted me to try and copy the style. Immediately I knew I was out of my depth. I could tell that the painter was not using Citadel paints. I don't mix paints if I don't have to because I never quite get the colors perfect. Even if no one else notices, I will always know and it irks me.

Nate was nice enough to ask the other painter what his colors were so I could try and match them. As I foresaw, they were not Citadel paints and his techniques differed from mine greatly. I copped to Nate that I would not be able to match the painter's style. Nate graciously gave me the go ahead to paint the mini in my style but try and match it to the other minis in theme if not in execution.

The black cloth and old metals were going to be easy. I've painted enough black and silver to last me a lifetime. I had done a coat of flesh tones on the Heretical Inquisitor converted from Fabius Bile so I was prepared for that.

I really had to think hard about matching those glowing blue/greens. I settled on Sotek Green washed with Gulliman Blue to get me started. I touched it up with SB and may highlight with Temple Guard Blue.

Something else about this particular mini that is driving me crazy, is how it is impossible to paint it after assembling it and there is no way to use any sub-assembly. Each piece needs to be painted completely before being assembled. It is really frustrating. 

A Christmas Miracle

Last year, I had problems with clear coating and it fogging my miniatures just at the point of completion. The Tomb Blades and the Battlewagon were the worst affected but the Flash Gitz and a whole Slew of Deathwatch minis also got fogged. I was so upset at this that I listed them for trade.

Since this snafu, We have moved to a new house. In the finnished basement, we have a nice dehumidifier that runs all the time. It is the least humid basement that I have ever been in. While I was clearcoating some other minis inside ("use in a well-ventilated area" my ass), I decided to test out re-clearcoating some of the frosted minis. The test Deathwatch Terminator came out almost perfect. Encouraged, I did a few more. It worked again! I even took out the old Flash Gitz and they were rehabbed as well. Setting my teeth, I did the Battlewagon and it too looked better. Aside from the 40% humidity or less that it is inside and not using that Krylon MAXX garbage, I don't know what I changed to make this Christmas Miracle happen, but I am very happy it did.

On The Table - More Deathwatch Marines

I am trying to clear the table of projects so I can start on my legit Imperial Knight kit. I will need more Infernus Heavy Bolters to field the number and type of Kill Teams that I want and also because they are awesome Wargear. I wanted to make a lower-points Black Shield with a little more utility than the melee killing-machines that I have already made. This guy will have a Power Sword and Grav Pistol. He come in at 67 points rather than 77/82 points. He is armed with a combination of AP 2/3 weapons so he will not be useless against any types of troops.

At this point in painting, the black has a good start. It is basecoated with 1:1 grey and black, drybrushed grey and washed black. The silver metals are basecoated and washed black with the armor. Tonight, I painted on the base colors for the gold and parchment. I also painted on the red colors on the cloak. 

Finished - Corvus Blackstar

I was kind of shocked when I finished the Corvus Blackstar tonight. I just kind of ran out of things to paint.

I started by spray painting the mini on sprue black. I wanted to assemble it in stages to make it easier to paint but I didn't find a good way to do this. The wings join the body in such a way that they need to be shaded while attached. The tail sections and engines could have been painted separately but with little advantage. So I painted it all at once.

Once it was assembled, I undercoated the whole mini with a 1:1 mix of Abaddon Black and Dawnstone. Then the mini got a drybrush of Dawnstone. I painted on my wash of Nuln Oil and then alternate with Agrax Earthshade on areas where I needed extra shading and darkening.

The silver areas were Ironbraker washed black and highlighted with Runfang Steel. It was all pretty standard. The exception was with all the vents. I dry brushed all of them with Abdadon Black, washed them black and then drybrushed with Runfang Steel. This is not precisely how I have done it in the past and it did not turn out great. I think it fits the model because it is so dark that it does not stand out much.

I painted on the red stripes inspired by the Codex. I also saw some stripes on the tail that looked like the stripes just continued. I tried to get mine as straight and as even as possible with each other but I think that worked against me. I should have made the stripes on the tail smaller. Don't ask me why, but it looks wrong the way it is.

On The Table - Corvus Blackstar

Well drunk-me tried to do some detail painting and sober-me is just now finding out about. Wisely, drunk-me decided to paint the bottom of the Corvus and not on the top or front. Good move, drunk-me.

Surprisingly, when sober-me tried to take over painting, I had a harder time replicating the fine lines that drunk-me did. It might have something to do with me having to add some water to the pot of grey paint that I was using and maybe that made it harder to get clean lines.

Drunk-me also tried to wash the red areas to try and make them darker. Unfortunately drunk-me can't tell when enough is enough (in more ways than one way). The red areas became a muddy mess and had to be repainted from scratch.