Ok The Table Now - Headless Scouts

I am making good progress on the Deathwatch Scouts/Snipers. All the bases are finished and the finished bodies are mounted. I just have to finish guns, pick out heads and they are finished. 

As it stands, I have picked out the following Chapters for the Scouts reading from left to right and skipping Rufus. Blood Angels, Space Wolves, Ultramarines, Space Wolves and Salamanders. The repeat of the Wolves has to do with fluff and bits. In the fluff, Space Wolves do not use the Scouts as in-field training but rather as exile-in-combat for their problem kids. As a result, they have WS 4 and BS 4 Scouts when most updated (all at the time of writing this) have WS 3 and BS 3 Scouts. Ignoring the behavioral problems of having a Space Wolf (let alone a problem child Space Wolf) on a Kill Team, this would make them prime recruiting for Deathwatch. I included a plethora of Wolves in the sniper section of Deathwatch, because I have many left of heads for SW Scouts. 

So, counting Rufus, I'll have 3 Space Wolf Scout/Snipers and (so far) 6 in the army. Over-represented? Maybe, but Wolves have always been awesome and over-represented given that there are 12,000 of them max in the 40k Universe. 

Finished - Space Wolf Head

I put the finishing touches on the Deathwatch Tactical Marines and this head. I didn't take finished pictures of the Marines though but they were basically done. 

They turned out great. I can't wait to keep going on the Deathwatch project. 

Finished - Deathwatch Wolf Scout

We have our first game of the new Deathwatch RPG group next week. Of the 5 other people that expressed interests in playing all but 2 canceled. One was a seasoned GM but knew nothing of the 40k setting. I was really sad to see him drop out and hope he comes back. We are going to start with two solid players and hopefully add two more. 

I had rolled up a character even though I see myself being the GM until a challenger appears. I strategically chose the Wolf Scout advance for the Tactical Marine so that when I don't want to role-play him, I can have him sneak off to "scout" leaving the PCs to do the heavy lifting. 

The advance costs 200 XP and allows the player to use Perception for Concealment, Shadowing and Silent Move so that they can benefit from the Wolf Senses Solo Mode Ability. It also take some of the emphasis off of the social aspects of the Space Wolf. I am not particularly adept at playing a "face" character and would feel uncomfortable in that role. 

Recasts Received!

I got the box from the last post in the mail and I am not completely disappointed.

The Thunderwolves are resin recasts of the plastic kit but are pretty good quality. It is hard to tell if any bits are missing, as they came clipped from the sprues in a bag, but it all looks like it is there. It looks like they will go together the same as the plastic kit and once painted no one will know the difference. I really only wanted one wolf to round out my collection. Single wolves go for $14-$18 on eBay but I would not have gotten my choice of extra bits. For a little over twice the price of an eBay Thunderwolf, I got three times the minis (and bits!).

The Primaris Psyker was a real surprise in the he was metal. I was shocked and thought he was legit GW metal but the hastily cleaned mold lines lets me know that this is a recast. As much as we love to rib GW about letting garbage minis out of their warehouses that need extensive cleaning before they can be used, they at least try not to send actual garbage out. Regardless, I like metal more than resin and on a mini that has a staff, I am going to have fewer breaks because of it. I was sad when I realized that this mini was so close to retail, but the metal makes up for it.

The last mini that I am going to write about is the Emperor's Children Sonic Dreadnought. I love this mini and have wanted it for ages. It also rounds out my Cult Dreadnought/Helbrute project. I got it with Chainfist and Blastmaster. While there are no real rules for this wargear, I will either fudge it a little in casual games or use it as a proxy for Power Fist and Las Cannon.

Overall, some of the prices were a little high and there is always some uncertainty in dealing with a China recaster and not using Paypal. The guy that I emailed with said he would send a tracking number but never did and never cared to explain. It did not take the 8-16 weeks that it can sometimes take. Overall it is a pretty neutral experience.

Finished - Arjac Rockfist

The Anvil of Fenris is one bad mutha. 

I love this mini. It is one of the most dynamic poses of any Space Marine models ever. You can just imagine him twisting at the waste and flicking his wrist and that hammer flies.I love this model. Perhaps the only bad thing about it is that it is only available in resin. 

Because it is only available in resin I decided to give Yoymart a try. They make resin recasts of GW minis for less than half the price. Arjac retails for and insane $25. I remember when rhinos cost that and you could get a 10 man box for that price. Yoymart sold this for I think $5 which is eminently more affordable. I don;t know that either price is exactly right but maybe it should be priced somewhere in the middle. 

As far as quality, it is on par with GW Finecast if maybe a little more brittle. There are places where the detail is a little fudged but again it is on par with Finecast. It required a little cleaning up before it was ready to be painted. 

I painted him in my standard Space Wolf colors. I went a little heavy with the weathered bronze. In the middle of painting him, I reflected that all of the detail was painted bronze. I regret that partially but I don't have a good idea of how to paint it better. 

I am pretty pleased with how the face came out. For some reason the wash didn't want to stick to his face. I ended up having to paint on Agrax Earthshade to get it dark enough. I used Elf Flesh and a detail brush to get some subtle highlights on his face. 

I have to be fair in my estimation of what it would take to replace this model. I can't claim retail value for it when it is a knock off. The mini itself is worth about $5. The paintjob to me is worth about $25. That means to replace this mini would be about $30. However, Yoymart seems to have closed down. Right now, a retail mini is all I have access to and to replace this mini with that one would be closer to $55. 

Finished - Njal Stormcaller

This mini has been my unicorn for a long time. I made a number of offers on it and ended up paying almost retail for it. I dislike Finecast and wanted this mini in metal only. Any mini that was metal makes poor Finecast and any that have straight bits like staves, rods or swords are nightmarish ti fix. Often I end up clipping those bits off and replacing them. No such luck with this guy as his staff is a major part of the model and (until this most recent codex) a powerful relic. 

As for painting him, it is pretty straight forward. Like the Rune Priest, I really tried to go to town on the face. I wanted all my Space Wolf Psykers (I know they hate it when you call them that) to have fiery red hair, but Njal is old or at least I feel that he is so I gave him grey hair. 

I feel bad that the runes are recessed rather than raised like the old model or the Rune Priest. I didn't feel comfortable painting them red like I did on the other models. It breaks with the established pattern but I think it makes for a better model. 

The psyber-crow on his shoulder did get attached after these pictures were taken. I dislike that part of the mini. It is awkwardly placed and breaks up the outline of the model. I think that it should have been a separate mini like Azrael and his Watcher.

I think this mini turned out average for me. I don't have much that I really like or dislike about it. The mini retails for an astounding $22.25 but you can only find it in resin. Due to the rarity of the metal mini, I would value just that at about $35. The paint job is good for me but someone else would likely have to strip it. For me to replace the mini would cost me $60.

Finished - Rune Priest

I am finishing some Space Wolf character models while I am finishing my last commission for this year. I have to take a break from all the detail on the Infinity minis. They are maddening and sometimes you just want to paint something brown. 

I think I paid near retail for this mini because it is metal. I can buy a Finecast mini for almost $20 but I am disappointed in that material. It is not made to last and I'll take a mini in metal any day to a resin one.

I painted him in a pretty standard pattern for my Space Wolves. The only thing I really went to town on was the face. I did a flesh wash over Dwarf Flesh and then touched it up. The eyes were painted Bleached Bone, then washed Leviathan Purple and touched up again. Usually I stop there, but on this mini, I took out Elf Flesh and my finest detail brush and put the faintest highlights on his skin. 

I am getting better at skin. I am light-years ahead of how I used to paint flesh and this makes me excited of where I can go from here. 

He is magged out! I put magnets in his wrists so I can swap out his close-combat weapon for a forse ax/sword/staff. That's not a really a big deal but I am only painting one of these guys so I want all the options. I could also use him as a Wolf Lord in Power Armor in a pinch. 

As long as I was sinking magnets into this mini, I decided to magnetize his back as well. It is highly unlikely that I will ever give my Rune Priest a jump pack, but I want that option.

The mini is hard to get and probably worth $30 on its own due to its rarity in metal. The paint job is pretty good but it is not in a Codex color. The magnets also add to the value. To me it is worth about $25 but to someone else it would hard to tell. I would estimate the value for me to replace this mini at $60.

Finished - Termie Captain, Horrors, SW Torso

Those fracking Horrors have been on the table for ages. Maybe a year but probably at least 6 months. Theirs is a long a storied tale of desperation, ambition, betrayal, disappointment and perseverance. Ok well maybe not betrayal unless you could my paint betraying me. 

I started them after the Bloodletters but never made an On the Table post about them. I based them in a blue Foundation color and drybrushed them a green Foundation. After that I drybrushed them in an interference paint. I either washed them in either green or blue. I think most of them got green. 

The end result was disappointing. It was too dark and did not have the iridescent effect that I wanted. After Googling a Jeweled Beetle shell and getting sloppy with my Sepia wash, I became a little more happy with the results. The sepia in the joints and recesses added in the red color that the minis was missing. 

On the table now - Wulfen and Njal

I am trying to clear the painting table of in-progress pieces before starting the Ork Wrecker and Speed Freak Lootas. Part of that is the Wulfen that I bought off Bartertown a while back and Njal Stormcaller that I am painting for a friend. That base colors are done on them all and the first wash for shading is also done. Now the painting starts!

After these I have 5 back packs to do for the Wulfen and then we start the Wrecker. Real talk, I am putting it off because of the time it is going to take to turn a non-GW model into an Ork vehicle. I am daunted and thus do not want to start. Once I am out of side projects and excuses, I'll have to start on it. 

The sprues are primed. The painting table is almost clear and I am almost out of excuses. Maybe I'll turn it into a step-by-step WIP and that will motivate me. 

On the table now - 20 Grots and Wulfen

 

The good thing about Grots is that they are cheep. The bad thing is that there are lots of them. 

Also, hiding the back are three Wolfen that I picked up for a pretty good price. I am going to use them as minis with Mark of the Wulfen in the SW army. 

Finished Canis Wolfborn

Canis is done. I feel like this should be an epic post but I just do not have time for it. I have 15 min before bedtime and I just put the finishing touches on this bad boy. True to my word, I did some small conversions on him. It was just an arm rotation, but I think it changes the model significantly. It is hard to tell and I don't know if you can see from the photos, But I made an effort to green stuff all the gaps where the metal pieces fit together. This si my first time really fixing those gaps in a mini and I think it turned out pretty well. I am no pro-sculptor but I think I matched the fur ok. I didn't do anything exciting for the base because I was bored with spending a lot of time on awesome bases and not finishing the minis (you'll see more of this when I post pics of my Thunderwolf Calvary).

Canis is painted in my SW colors and his mount is done the way the rest of the Thunderwolves are. I went a little crazy with the wash so the mini turned out very dark compared to the other wolves.

I'll have to take better pics in the photo studio before I post pics to CMON.

On the Table Now - Quadgun, Canis and Thunderwolf

In keeping with my promises for 2014, here is what I am working on. 

The Quadgun in the back is made from two halves of a Defiler torso and the reaper auto-cannons from the same kit. The base is the top to an orange juice lid (I'll do a write up on how to make this when I can do a decent step by step), and the "gunner" on the front is a pilot from a Penitent Engine. The only thing left is the gun cowlings left to paint and it is done!

The Thunderwolf on right is the 5th TW I have. It was part of an unexpected trade on Bartertown. I decided to magnetize the rider at the waste so I can use him for a Iron Priest or a Wolf Lord mounted on Thunderwolf later. He just needs a dry brush on the fur and he will be done. 

I just started on Canis Wolfborn and I am really excited about this mini. At first I could have done without it as the doggie looks a little slow. As I paint it, I am falling in love. I held out for the metal model and got it for a good price on BT. It weighs as much as the old metal Dreadnought so if he dies in battle, I can put the mini in a sock and hit my opponent with him. 

I plan on doing a minor conversion on him. the normal pose for the mini has his left arm down by his side and his right arm up in the air. This leaves no hands on the reigns. I know from a few horse riding lessons that one does not need their hands on the reigns at all times as you can use the pommel to tie the reigns, but I would like to have him with at least the illusion that he has a hand on them. I am going to rotate the right arm from up in the air and position it over the reigns. This will also protect those spindly claws from getting damaged. 

We'll see how that turns out. 

Finished - Oily Knight

This is a mini that I painted for my buddy Keith. He plays Space Wolves but paints them like Grey Knights. While painting this guy, I gave him a good base of Chainmail and then painted on the gold accents with Shining Gold.After that, the whole model got a wash of Seraphim Sepia. Now, something happen to my first and only pot of SS and it does not dry matte. It dries shiny and does not pool right. I'll assume that I was something I did to the pot because if they are all like this, I won't be able to use it as a wash. Because SS colors well but does not shade worth a damn, I painted on Agrax Earthshade to give depth. 

Finished - Thunderwolf Cavalry

 It is not all Tau-love here at TMM. I have had this Thunderwolf on my desk ready to be painted for a few months now. The painting went surprisingly fast. I don't know if I have talked about painting wolf tails on this blog and a quick search did not reveal it. It is basically a base of Dheneb Stone and washes of black, dev mud and sepia that are layered to create depth. After that there is either a dry brush of Dheneb Stone or painting on each of the tufts of fur to brighten things up. With all the hair on this wolf, I chose drybrush. I do not have the kind of time.

I am happy with the pose for the most part. I wanted to reposition the head but I traded for this and the head was plastic glued in place. I did not initially want to position his torso sideways but in order to use the hand that has the fist gripping the hair, I had to turn the body. In the end, I like it!

Finished - Long Fangs

In the interest of posting more, here are some crappy pics of my Long Fangs!

While the title and tags say that they are finished, they are not. I still need to apply transfers and clear coat them. After that they will need some static grass (if I decide to go that route with the SW) and only then are they really finished. 

The pictures also turned out crappy. That is likely due to the lighting and the white background. I did not notice how bad they were until I got to posting them. By that point, I just wanted to finish this post and did not want to get out the studio. 

On the table now - Living Saint and faces

I am working on the Living Saint and am trying something new. This is a beautiful mini and is a joy to paint.

Usually I just do simple faces when I am forced to paint them. Tallarian Flesh, Tanned Flesh, Dwarf Fresh, Ogryn Flesh wash, touch up with Dwarf Flesh. The flesh wash has some red tones in it but I do not typically use any other colors. In almost any advanced flesh painting tutorial, you'll see people mixing in purples, greens and blues into their fleshes.

I touched my toe into this pool by adding some color to the lips with a Mechrite Red base and a light wash of very thin red and some purple paint and wash on the eyes.

I am mostly satisfied with the results. I want to experiment more with this and the Desert Wolves army is a good chance to do that as many of them will be missing helmets.

On the table now - Grey Hunters and Blood Claws

I've started work on my Troops choices for the Space Wolves army. I am painting them in pairs with one GH and one BC at a time. Usually I paint in groups of 3 or 5 and all of the minis are usually very similar. I want all my Wolves characters into themselves and to this end I am trying to construct and paint each mini uniquely. 

I am trying to keep a few themes going. I want the Grey Hunters each to look like venerable and grizzled warriors. To this end, I have included lots of wolf tails, skulls and decorative shoulder pads. I want the Blood Claws to look like feral and savage young warriors. To represent this, I keep the stripped down with just the most basic wargear that they need. 

I am using a lot of bare heads in this army. The mix may end up being about 1:1. I find this is an easy way to give a mini a lot of personality in a simple way. Also to add to variety, I have tired to paint the squad markings on the right shoulder pad uniquely on each mini. This is hard because I want to use spikey lines as design elements and the variety is quickly exhausted. 

Mostly, I am really happy with how things are coming alone. I have two more on the table now and that means that I am close to having 2 fieldable units. That means I am just two minis away from a legal SW army. WOO!

On the table now - 3 good, 3 bad

Things have been quiet of late here on TMM Blog. That is because I have been in a fury of painting since the new year. I have quite a back log of minis to post as Finished as well as the Yearbook post. It has never taken me this long to get that yearbook post out. I would feel bad about that if I was not churning out some of my best looking minis ever. 

I am putting the finishing touches on Mordrak right now and will move on to 3 Obliterators for the Iron Warriors and three Space Wolf special characters. 

Finished - Two bad guys and one good guy

Lots of lightning claws in this post. 

I started on the DV Chaos marines. They are more difficult to paint than I thought they would be. There is a lit os detail and some of it is very shallow. They are also hard to paint and then assemble as the lines between parts often run through detail areas. It is not quite as hard to explain as it was to paint, but was close. 

I also banged out a fairly dynamically-posed Space Wolf Blood Claw Wolfguard. I most often see those claws used to pose the model as of he is turning around to engage another enemy, but I wanted this lusty Blood Claw to look like he is throwing himself at his prey. 

Finished - The Gang's All Here