#workbenchWednesday 13/02/19

Back again, current #hobbystreakday44.  Workbench looks pretty static this week though -

Not even sure anything moved...

Couple of reasons for this, kids were over at the weekend, so they spent some time pottering about with their Dragon Rampant army, so, I took the opportunity to do some assembly and basing too.  Figured I'm going to try and have as much as possible cleaned, assembled, based and primed so that I only have the secret projects for #talesofinstahammer to prepare.  I'm at just over 60% of the planned stuff assembled and based for the year, and I reckon doing the 10mm Warband army will really ramp that number up.  Also, that doesn't take into account any of the stuff I already did over what I had planned.

Speaking of which, the challenge this month is Vanguard, and the secret project is to paint up a hero (or two).  I kind of scunnered myself here by painting 3 Necromancers last month, along with the 3 Skeleton Champions...  Not sure, what I am going to do this month, maybe source another Necromancer model, or a Vampire of some description.  My Vanguard unit will be 15 Black Knights using the Mantic Cavalry.  They are the restic versions, so clean-up was minimal and annoying, so I just clipped off the injection points, trimmed them, and scraped the mould lines off the front legs and face plate.  I've based them on 40mm lipped bases, so they match my SAGA stuff, and could also be used for Lord/War of the Ring(s).  

All your base...

I've also assembled both warbands from the Warhammer Underworlds: Nightvault box, along with a box of the snap-fit Mystmourn Banshees, 6 Fenrisian Wolves, 3 Spirit Hosts and 6 Mantic Trolls.

The Underworlds stuff and wolves were a joy to assemble, and, just when I was thinking how nice it was to be putting together nice sprued plastic kits, I started the Spirit Hosts.  They were a nightmare.  I'm sure there could have been much better keying for the strands without losing the incorporeal look.  The Banshees, Spirit Hosts and Knights are planned for my Death army, and the Wolves and Trolls for my Of Gods & Mortals force,

Carrying on with that, I've also cleaned up and based the Warlord and 2 points of Two Handed Axe armed Vikings for my SAGA Jomsvikings, and the 4 Berserkers, for my OG&M list.  These two projects are pretty intertwined, as I'll be able to get a lot of double duty from the figures and switch up lists a bit.

Started work on 2 of the 4 units of hand weapon/shield Hearthguard too.

Finally, been upping my game count too in preparation for the Belgian Warmachine & Hordes Masters this weekend.  Mostly playing Grymkin, but also dug out Baldur 2 for a practice game to see how Sarah's army handles the Starcrossed/behind a wall/Roots of the Earth (and Spiny Growth in the case of Ghetorix) skew.  Lost on scenario, but had a real grindy game, and still finished with 3 heavies on the table.  Lost Wrongeye trivially, because Incorporeal and Transference (and re-rolls) is a thing that deals with Starcrossed...

Tonight we're gonna rock you!

So that's pretty much it.  Hard weekend of drinking with added Warmachine coming up, then back to the grind to get my #talesofinstahammer projects and getting on with the 15mm stuff that is already on the workbench.

Cheers,  see you next week (liver permitting)

John

#workbenchWednesday 02/01/19

Woah, 3 consecutive days of posting.  You people are being spoilt!

So, how does the workbench look after being cleared off for the new year?

Pretty jammed up with zombies right now.  The January goal for #talesofInstahammer is to paint a unit and a character model, so I figured I'd try and get through as many shamblybois as possible.  Plus they can be used as Levy for my SAGA Draugr and Undead Norse in Of Gods & Mortals.  Triple duty for the win.   I'm sure they'll have many more uses too.  The theme for the month is Impact! so I'm planning on going in swinging and getting all 120 Zombies done, providing I can get the rest primed, along with the Grave Markers I'd made up.

Zooooohhmbie, Zoooooooooohmbie, Zoooooohmbieeeeeeeee, Necromancer [/Dolores]

There are another 50 waiting in the wings (30 have the bases drybrushed, 20 including both command groups don't) and a Grave Marker, plus 40 more and the last 2 Grave Markers on sticks to be primed when the shops open for me to grab more spray.  There are a couple of miscelaneous Frostgrave figures too, but they were odds on the tray so I figured I'd just prime them, get the bases sorted, and put them on the shelf with the rest.

More of the same.  Except Necromancers.

 The astute amongst you may have noticed that means there are only 3 Grave Markers to be done.  Correct.  I'd used one as my test model for the tale, so quickly busted out the other two, and a zombie to get an idea of how it looks.  It is pretty much all basecoats and drybrushing and washes, but it works.  I'm working on the idea that it has to be quick, because there are 120 of them, and remain suitably dark to match the Draugr stuff.

Not Grave Mistakes

The test Zombie was done with the same colours, and whilst not amazing should look good en mass.  At least, I hope it will. 

I think that painting them in the batches of 30 should work, I'd originally set out to do 30 and a Grave Marker per week in January, with the 3 odd days to get my Necromancer done, but, as he shares a very similar colour scheme, and I'm not going as far with him as I did on the last version, he is pretty much done too.  Iguess that means I can focus on whatever the secret challenge is, and get more stuff prepped for the rest of the year.

Maybe I'll get started on more terrain.  Wait, more?  That must mean I already have some.

Seeing as I had space on a stick I'd primed this at the same time as the first batch of Zombies, and figured I'd do it as I was painting rocks and stuff anyway on the Graves.  One day I'll get to the point of having a full table worth of 3d terrain.

Finally, I figured I would try and get my #hobbystreak back up, started it fresh yesterday to see if I can beat last year's total, so, enjoy #hobbystreakday2.

Back soon, hopefully with a lot of finished Zombies to show off.

Cheers,

John

#workbenchWednesdays 5 & 12/12/18

I didn't update last week, as there wasn't realy anything on my workbench, and it is kinda the same this week again.  I think I am winding down for the year, plus my sleeping pattern is shot (moreso than usual) because of work and stuff.  Gotta love the retail side of Christmas...  Anyway, the workbench currently looks like this -

 There is a base sitting ready for a Ringwraith model for my Saga Rampant Draugr, the part done Reaper Familiar, and the woefully neglected remaining Butchers for Guildball.  Not sure what it is with them, just can't seem to find the oomph to get started with them.

 Off to the sidelines are the first two Stormcast Eternal warbands for Shadespire, along with a random Foundry Viking, two units of Piggybacks, the Wanderer, a Rattler and a Witchwood for my Grymkin army, that all need the primer touched up, and some 15mm stuff, a Copplestone Northlander Hero and some 4a Miniatures Dwarves that I picked up earlier in the year at the Penrith show.

 

I have been very busy on the assembly front the last few weeks, in fact, I've had to start using 2 trays to hold all the models ready to go.  I've built up 72 Mantic Zombies to use as Levy for the Draugr force, along with 10 Wraiths, a couple of the easy build Deathguard kits (I've put these ones on lipped bases, as I already have some on bevelled ones for my Deathguard army) plus a few other random things.  I also made some Objective/Scenario markers using the Renedra Gravestones and Zombie parts and based a couple of LotR statues, with a mind to doing 3d terrain over the next year.

Finally, here is the current state of my assembly area.  A second unit of Werewolves assembled and awaiting greenstuff, some Mantic Wights (I think, not sure they were ever released) and a couple more terrain pieces, a small ruin from Lord of the Rings, and a Games Workshop staircase piece festooned with Grim Reaper motifs.


So yeah, that's about it really.   Couple of weeks left of the year to get set up for a productive 2019, I've already started working on new hobby resolutions, as well as filling out a diary for when I should be blogging/events/etc.


Fingers crossed eh?


Cheers,

John

Month in Review - November 2018

Time for a look back at the last month I guess seeing as I'm on a roll with updating this thing.

 Quick workbench shot to get started.  Finished up the 6 Black Numenoreans and got a fair bit of work done on the Spirit of the Forest.

Life's a Draugr, and then you die...

As far as my Hobby Resolutions go, I haven't really done much beyond play a few games.  The tally jumped a lot, because I've added in an approximation of the last few undocumented months, but I've been powering through painting as part of the Paintvember movement (paint 30 minutes minimum a day for the month of November) and have finished off a mighty 63 miniatures.  Granted, a few were already started, but that's OK.  I've cleared all the commission stuff, plus added a bunch of new minis to my SAGA Rampant Draugr and Frostgrave/Blood Eagle/Daisho pools.

This was written on paper older than a lot of the miniatures I own...

 Also feels a bit cheaty having done a load of stuff for the Draugr project, as it is a really quick and simple scheme, but I guess that it is something I should embrace for quick turnaround, and to make a dent in the backlog.  I can see me painting up various Undead/Orcs and Goblinoids and possibly even Dwarfs in the same scheme, as well as extending it to a mish-mashed Wild Hunt army, based partly on the Wood Elf version and partly on the Undead version from Witcher III.  Some Dark Dwarfs would also be pretty useful for Of Gods and Mortals in 28mm, using the Draugr as Undead Norse, just need to locate a suitable Hel model.

I spent a bit of time (joys of waking at 2am) this morning finishing off the Spirit of the Forest, and then just as long gluing stuff to him once the varnish was dry.  Really like how he looks all vegetated up, and might have to grab another one for 15mm purposes.

77184 Spirit of the Forest (Reaper Bones)

PAINTVEMBER!  (plus 14 pre-release minis shipped back already)

For the Horde!

 Even though some of the minis use a different pallet, or slightly different basing techniques, they still mesh well together with the unified base colours and rims.  I'll have to dig the full army out for a group shot soon, along with my Grymkin.

Ok, maybe the black rims stick out a bit...

So yeah, that is my November in a nutshell.  Painted loads of stuff, currently over 365 miniatures for the year, which is pretty good seeing as I didn't paint any in October.  Need to get a few more games in to hit my total, but I have Daisho lined up at the club next month, plus I'm sure I can get a few more arranged.  I might have a crack at transferring over the last few batches of GW paint, no way I'll get the Foundry and/or P3 done, but it's a rolling goal.  The Deathguard and Rune Wars and Guildball stuff is basically neglected ( I did the GB bases, and assembled a few more DG from the Conquest magazine).  Maybe I can paint 3 minis in December?

Anyway, that's me for now.  Happy painting, andI'll be back on Wednesday.

Cheers,

John

#workbenchWednesday 28/11/18

Back again with another workbench update!

Spent a bit of time this morning doing the metals and robes on these guys, had a sleep, did the faces (chins) and varnished them.  Really just grass to add to the bases now if the varnish dries.

To be fair, the Black Numenoreans are almost done.

More Black Numenoreans to give me a 3rd Hearthguard Unit, plus 2 spares to replace the Wraith/Spectres in the original ones, plus the Reaper Bones Spirit of the Forest just because.


Bonus time - here's a quick snap of the assembly station too.

Pretty clear for a change.

It's been a busy week (well, month really) and I'm rattling through a load of miniatures, although, it obviously helps that a lot of them were started/nearly done.  Except the Guildball Butcher's...   I'll get to them eventually, but it just seems to be a mental stumbling block to get started.  At least the bases are done for them, right?

 Speaking of which, that was Sunday morning.  Figured it would be an idea to get the basing stages done on a pile of primed and inked minis, so that I can just grab them on a whim and get started rather than having to do more 'prep' work.  Yes, that was approximately 50 minis getting a couple of drybrushes then the rims repainted.

When you absolutely positively gotta cover all the bases...

 Other than that, it's been pretty productive on actual finished models too.  Let's see what we have...

 

Finished off the trio of Reaper Bones Ogres to use as Oni for Daisho/Ronin.   Happy I went with the traditional red skin, although I wanted to do blue.  Thankfully there are just another 2 sculpts to pick up and do, then I can go back to gleefully ignoring red until I get around to the Butchers, or my Savage Wave for Bushido.

77566 Ogre Chieftain (Reaper Bones)

77568 Ogre Matriarch (Reaper Bones)

77454 Ogre Clubber (Reaper Bones)

Gudbrand Soultaker - Viking Shaman (Footsore Miniatures)

Werewolf from 02870 Familiar Pack VI (Reaper Dark Heaven Legends)

There were also a few more figures completed, but they are pre-releases so I can't show them off just yet...



So yeah, that kinda sums up my week, other than 5 nightshifts...  but doing the minimum 30 minutes a day is really paying off.   Hoping to get the Numenoreans done, as that'll take me over 60 miniatures completed this month, and then go crazy gluing stuff onto the Spirit of the Forest.


Should be back Friday with a monthly review.

Cheers,

John

#workbenchWednesday 21/11/18

Back again, on time this week too  ;)

So, how's the old workbench looking?

There is a trio of Reaper Bones Ogres there (77454 Clubber, 77566 Chieftain, 77568 Matriarch) that I'm gradually painting up as Oni for Daisho/Ronin.  Red isn't normally a colour I'd choose to paint, so it has been a learning curve.  I'm also working on some pre-release miniatures, but I can't show them off...

As well as painting (I've been doing a minimum of 30 minutes a day as part of an online challenge) I've been pretty productive on the assembly front.

Prime us!

There is a large selection of various models all cleaned up, based and ready for priming.  Picture is cropped slightly, but there is -

Unit of 3 Farrow Valkyries, Bradigus, Tharn Chieftain, Shaman and Whitemane for HORDES.
8 Black Numenoreans and 24 Mantic Zombies for my Draugr SAGA army.
8 Reaper Bones Goblins as Redcaps, a Giant and bug for Blood Eagle/Dark Age Fantasy.
3 Frostgrave soldiers.
1 Foundry Revenant Vampire/Elf. 
3 Four A miniatures critters and a gremlin that are the kids.
A Death Guard character model for Warhammer 40,000.
A random Reaper Werewolf.
The Yeti from the Black Dragon Tong box for In Her Majesty's Name.
An old metal Ungor from a Beastman (or Beasts of Chaos, or just plain Chaos age dependant) army that I plan to paint up as a satyr.
Some 15mm Forger in Battle Celts/Gauls for a 15mm Blackpowder project.
And finally the Reaper Bones Spirit of the Forest (77184) that I just want to paint for fun.  More extreme base effects ahoy!

All in all it is quite a random selection.  I've also been throwing more random baggies of stuff into the box that I generally put the figures I want to get assembled in, there is more Northstar stuff, along with some Arcworlde figures, and a few more Bones ones, as well as reinforcements for my Normans.

Spent some time over the weekend out with the kids at a local wildlife area and got a bunch of photos of nature for basing reference, so, there might be an article in the making there.

Finally, I finished off  the Grace and Benediction figures for a commission.  Tried to keep it pretty close to the card art without going overly sepia.

That's it for the week then, will get to painting once the kids are asleep.

See you in a week, hopefully with the Oni finished.


Cheers,

John

#workbenchWednesday 08/08/18

So, don't have a workbench shot because it is top secret stuff on it right now, but I do have some things to show off that I knocked out over the weekend.



I've been leaning towards doing more fantasy styled Dark Ages gaming, so I'm looking at Blood Eagle again, and figured I would paint up some Draugr models as quick and dirty generic bad guys.

It turned out that I still had some of the Games Workshop Army of the Dead plastic models from the Lord of the Rings line still on the sprue lying in a box near my desk, so, they seemed like a good starting point.  I wanted to avoid the usual ethereal paint scheme for them, opting for a variety of grubby browns and black, to better represent mouldering corpses rather than ghosts.

I quickly knocked out one each of a plastic Army of the Dead trooper, metal Black Numenorean, and a Spectre from Otherworld games.  Nothing groundbreaking with the paintjobs, Army Painter Leather Brown colour primer, Strong Tone wash, then paint the skin Ash Grey, hair and beards Skeleton Bone, armour and weapons Machinegun Metal (AKA Platemail Metal IIRC) and the black cloth Necromancer Cloak (Robe?) then apply a Dark tone wash to the metals and some of the brown cloth, and soft tone to the skin and hair.  Job done.

Not so Solid Crew

So, in rather short order I managed to get 12 Army of the Dead troopers, 3 Black Numenoreans and 2 Spectres painted over the weekend, and so began some grand plans to make this into a Dragon Rampant/SAGA force, seeing as I have a huge Lord of the Rings backlog to draw from.

Almost feels like cheating

 Sure, they won't win any awards, but they definitely look the part for a bunch of mouldering corpses.  I have another 4 Warriors of the Dead, 3 Black Numenoreans, a RedBox Sorcerer, Reaper Viking and Uruk-hai Berserker primed up ready to go, as well as a spare copy of the hooded Witch-king.

I've also based up enough Army of the Dead to be able to field 6pts of Warriors in SAGA, or 4 units for Dragon Rampant.  I might have to see about getting some custom movement trays to be able to use them for War of the Ring too.

I am Batman.

The rummaging through the LotR backlog also turned up enough metal Morgul Knights to build 16, as well as 10 Riders of the Dead, plus a spare King and a Standard Bearer, which I think I'll end up putting on an oversized base.  There is also a load of Trolls, and other random gribblies like Wraiths, Wights and Bat Swarms, so I have plenty to be getting on with.

Well, I'm the Dark Knight.

That's it for the week, just building up more LotR figures and planning a massive army.  Hopefully that's the productivity back on track.  Still haven't been keeping track of #hobbystreak, but I have been doing a little each day.

Until next week,

Cheers,

John