Army Slowcase

The workbench née old dining table that I've been working at since I got back into this was getting a bit crowded (that's an understatement)... so I took the afternoon to straighten things up a little bit. While I was getting models stowed away, I decided to get pictures of everything I'm hoarding I have every intention of finishing and okaying with in the near future.

Since it's all sure to take much longer than I think, here's my very first-

ARMY SHOWCASE SLOWCASE

First up is the homebrew chapter that I was working on when I first started this blog, forever ago- the Marines Cruor Dexter. Things stalled, and for the time being I'm not going to do much with them for a while. I'd like to get some more fancy bases that I think kind of go with the original alpine theme I sort-of had in mind and I'm not convinced that I won't screw them up. Also, I'd like to get the Waaagh! Jenerrik and some Dark Angels to playable levels first.

I've got a Predator to finish up, the AoBR Terminator squad and Dreadnought ready to go, 1 of 5 Sniper Scouts done, and 2 squads of Tactical Marines barely started. I don't know if you can see there, but I was using the old Iron Hands Tactical Marines set to bionicize my guysto tie in with their fluff. Now that GW has switched the Iron Hands bits to Finecast, I'll probably go with scratchbuilt or 3rd party bits if I need any more in the future. I mean, who knows what else I'll wind up buying and never building for these guys.

I've also got some metal Dark Eldar prisoners stashed away to use as objective markers for these dudes.

This is what I've got so far for Waaagh! Jenerrik. It's mostly AoBR stuff (20 Slugga Boyz, 5 Nobz, a Warboss, and 3 Deffkoptas), but there's also 20 Shoota Boyz and a pile of junk 3 Killa Kans that I scored cheap off eBay. To paraphrase that cat reading the paper, "I should buy a Trukk." Also- needs more barcodes.

Chaos Warband "Jerkface". At least, until I can come up with a better name. You know, a name that is both grimmer and darker than Warband Jerkface. There's not much to see here- just a bunch of Dark Vengeance models still on the sprue, some Secret Weapon 'bone fields' bases, and a pile o' broken up cruddy Chaos Terminators (another eBay deal- but this one wasn't such a good deal). I think the Termies will be getting dual lightning claws. Other than that, I'm not sure where I'm going with this one. Maybe some Daemons.

Maybe lots of Daemons.

And finally, some Dark Angels.

Obviously, I was pretty impressed with the Dark Vengeance models. I decided to make a commitment to build a Dark Angels army. I like the fluff, and they are (obviously) getting a lot of support right now on the hobby side. I went ahead and got another set of Tacticool Dudes (eBay, again) and a Predator (it's actually going to be a convertible Rhino/Razorback- a Rhinoback?). I'll probably snag a DA Command Squad and some more Ravenwing goodies to flesh them out. Ooh, and a Landraider. And maybe Sammael. And the Dark Talon looks pretty pimp.

You know what? One Rhinoback probably isn't enough. Maybe another one. Or two. I'll probably need some Devastators, too, since the DA can take a ton of heavy weapons.

Screw it. I wonder how many DA Chapter Upgrade Kits I'd need to make this work...

You all already know this, but-

Secret Weapon bases are pretty frikkin' awesome.

The Desert Wasteland bases are for Dark Angels, and the Bone Fields bases are for some Chaos baddies- I decided to go ahead and actually flesh out the Dark Vengeance armies. So, you know, I'm probably in way over my head, with four un-playable incomplete armies...

Oh well. It's keeping me out of trouble and off the streets.

Last Week in Paint

Or: Never Mind the White Scar
So... Super Dungeon Explore is the greatest board game ever. My kids and I all love it, and my wife is even willing to play occasionally. Here's a Royal Paladin- I had to fake some skintone paint and it came uot a little chunky. I'm terrified of the eyes, but I've ordered a couple of itty-bitty Army Painter brushes to give them a shot.

Also, I slapped a little PFA True Burgundy and another few layers of Citadel Liche Purple onto the Predator Cruor Dexter (it looks ashy here, but that's just because the white balance of the photo is jacked). Once I get it blinged out, it ought to look pretty sharp.

Speaking of bling- does anybody have an opinion on Vallejo's 'liquid gold' alcohol-based paint? It seems lke all of my metallics have gone rubbery and I'm thinking of upgrading.

Apocrypha Project VI- White Scars

I painted a White Scar.

It was awful.

P3 Morrow White is where it's at, though.

Apocrypha Project V- Dark Angels. Because Dark Angels.

Holy wow, that's an awful-looking Dark Angel, especially considering everybody and theor dog is publishing really excellent 'How To...' posts and videos for Dark Angels right now.

Anyway. The major reason it's rotten is that it's an old Battle for Macragge tac marine that's been stripped and repainted at least once before (this is it's second, or possibly third paintjob). Also, I purposefully rushed through him to get an idea of how long it might take me to paint up a DA army to a 'three foot' standard (not long, as it turns out). Enough excuses- here's the steps I used so you can avoid them.

1. Basecoat/prime the model using dark green Krylon Fusion spray. Let this stuff dry overnight. 2. Green highlights using Plaid Folk Art Kelly Green (407), thinned with water. 3. Wash greens in Citadel Thrakka Green. 4. Reds painted with PFA True Burgundy (456). 5. Metallics in P3 Pig Iron. 6. Reds, metallics, and deep recesses in green areas washed in Citadel Badab Black. 7. Reds highlighted in Citadel Scab Red. 8. Metallics highlighted (poorly!) with P3 Pig Iron. 9. Whites (chest Aquila and backpack skull) in PFA Linen (420) and then washed before totally dry with Citadel Devlin Mud. I find that washing these colors before they are totally dry gives the washes a little more 'bite', making the end result look a little more like old bone- or gnarly teeth, in the case of Orks. 10. Not-quite-dry-brush the base in whatever burnt sienna and yellow ocher you have at hand. Full strength here, no need to thin. Then I painted the edge of the base burnt umber.

So there you have it- ten or so quick, easy steps to a not-quite-ruined Dark Angel tactical marine. I didn't include the eyes (because I balled them up) or the transfers (because they tore...) but whatevs. You get the picture. The chapter markings are moulded in on the DV box set, anyway.

Here they are, all together- the 5 completed(ish) models for this project so far-

Waaagh! Jenerrik

Well. At a rate of approximately .3 poorly-painted boyz per month, I reckon I'll have a fieldable force of Orks sometime around the 34th of Nevuary.

As you can no doubt see, these are some of the AoBR Orks from a few years back. I've also got some bids in on a bunch of used Orks on eBay- so we'll see what happens there. I'll either finish up the rest of this group and stick them in a box, or I'll wind up drowning under the Green Tide.