Paint and Plastic Soldiers

Then We Will Fight In The Shade (Dark Eldar Army Blog - Part I)

2010-12-08T07:52:00.003-05:00

Hey folks,

I've been working (slowly, as usual) on something really interesting - a Dark Eldar army. Yay! Isn't everyone, though? Well, let's show you something a little different then:

An Archon with talons, perhaps?

And with a bit of paint on him:

I don't know where I came up with the idea of using Necron Flayed One talons for hands, but I credit my failed attempts to bend an Agonizer into a more reasonable shape (resulting in it snapping) with the decision to use it as a sort of Predator-like scorpion-tail-ish gun-appendage. I'm counting him as having an Agonizer and a Splinter Pistol - having those blade-hands give you a tickle has got to be unpleasant.

I had to drill holes into the arms and the Flayed One talons in order to pin them into place - there's no way you're going to just get a mere surface-hold to stay put.

You'll also have to clip and flatten the bulb wrist part of the Flayed One talons in order to have a good surface to drill into. They come like that because they're meant to be slotted into the hollow ends of the Flayed One model's arms.

Anyway, feel free to leave comments. I'll try to get some better pictures as I continue along with the painting process.

Me out.

Secret Weapon: Painting for Tournaments With an Airbrush

2010-10-14T12:10:00.009-04:00

So my current project is to paint a 1500 point Tau force by a tournament on October 24. Many of my repeat visitors might remember my unsuccessful "Live to Win" campaign that I had put on in the past, and how I never quite got it all done.

Well, I've started to use an airbrush (finally) to get my base colour onto my Tau, and it's striking how something that used to take me several hours with a brush now takes maybe about thirty to sixty minutes.

I've been using the Citadel Spray Gun to get an even coat of Catachan Green onto my four Devilfish, one Hammerhead and twenty-four Fire Warriors. A few details, a healthy dose of Thraka Green Citadel Wash and then some touch-up with my main colour and I'll be just about table-ready.

No pictures yet, but here are a few things I've learned:

1. When your can of propellant gets cold, it's game-over. Either make sure you've got a whole day worth of sunny, warm weather so you can wait for your can to heat back up, or keep a couple of cans around so you can spray with a warm can while you give your most-recently-used can a chance to catch its breath. I've found out also that you're not going to lose all of your "air" if you remove the pressure regulator (the part of the airbrush hose that screws onto the can of propellant) - this is a lot safer than it seems. Apparently the screw part on your pressure regulator pushes down on a plate in the can itself that lets the air out when you turn the screw clockwise, and keeps it in when you turn the screw counterclockwise.

2. You'll run out of paint very quickly. If you want to spray a basecoat on your whole army in one sitting, make sure you've got three or four pots of the paint you need.

3. Be patient. At first, it may look like you're only getting a few drops onto your models, but keep passing over the areas you want covered, and things will solidify soon enough.

4. Pay attention to the needle where the paint comes out. Make sure that you keep that opening as clear as possible at all times. If you have to, clean the paint out regularly. With the Citadel Spray Gun, there's this screw-threaded piece that you can turn clockwise to close that hole, and counter-clockwise to open it further. My habit is to close it so that the needle pokes through the opening and also through the dried paint, and then open it again. I'd also spray some water and/or Simple Green through the airbrush after I'm done painting (if I have any propellant left) just to avoid/clear out any dry paint built up during my painting session.

More hints to come as I learn more about this newfangled tool.

Catching Up

2010-10-07T15:17:00.007-04:00

Hey all. It's been a long, long time. I've been a combination of lazy and busy (yes, for several months), and I totally dropped the ball on this whole blogging thing. I'm afraid I just suck at keeping a blog regularly updated.

For what it's worth, I'll show you something related to my previous post - the finished pictures of that contest entry.

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5 - Finished

And there we are. I didn't win, not anywhere close, but at least I tried and learned a bunch of new things. Like object source lighting, non-metal metal, a new technique for painting red (that I've since forgotten, unfortunately). And that's awesome.

Finally, A Challenge Worthy of My Skill!

2010-05-06T13:10:00.005-04:00

So I'm going to get in on a Blood Angels-only painting contest featured on Bell of Lost Souls and sponsored by BattleForgeGames. It's certainly worth doing, since I stand to potentially win a new Baal Predator, a box of Sanguinary Guard and a box of Death Company! You know, if I'm good enough.

I've got to assemble and paint either a new plastic Baal Predator, a squad of Sanguinary Guard OR a squad of Death Company by May 21. And because I have got to post SOMETHING on this blog once in a while, I'm posting progress shots here as I go!

Wish me luck!

Details: http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2010/05/painting-challenge-bfg-blood-angels.html

PS: I'm not actually cocky - the post title is a quote from the Imperial Guard Enginseer from Dawn of War: Winter Assault.

Game Summit

2010-04-20T11:10:00.016-04:00

I just wanted to let you all know about an awesome event that's going on here in Ottawa called Game Summit. I just happen to be working on some web stuff for it. While the event plays host to both a Warhammer 40k tournament AND a Warhammer 40k Kill Team tournament, it caters to a wide variety of other "analog" games, like board games, RPGs and collectible card games. Looks like Game Summit has something for the whole family.

Click the huge promotional image here for more information!

I hope I see some fellow FTWers and just lots of gamers of all sorts there!

Apologies

2010-04-20T11:09:00.003-04:00

Sorry to have been on hiatus for a while. I've been lazy, to be quite honest. I'm excited now, though, because I've discovered that it's much easier for me to customize my blog template than I had previously believed. With a spiffy-looking blog (work in progress right now), I'll hopefully be more motivated to post more often.

See you next time!

Live to Win, Epilogue

2009-05-21T15:49:00.001-04:00

So, on the 17th of May I went to Cangames. One win, one tie, one loss, but plenty of fun had by all!

This is the final result of my epic quest to get as much assembled and painted as possible:

Got the Baal finished, all but red highlights and mural on the second Rhino, all but the red and the mural finished on the third Rhino, and did a couple coats of red on the Bikes and the four lost Tactical Marines.

Quite a bit of progress, and it's shown me what I can do with a couple of weeks and a lot of pressure. If I can have one night a week where I work as hard as I did each day I worked to get my army tournament-ready, I'll achieve a great deal more than I did during my nearly year-long painting slump.

Next project: A step-by-step look at how I do a freehand mural on the top of a Rhino. I'll probably do a step-by-step for both, just to give plenty of examples.

This is the Steel Paladin, Jordan, signing off.

Live to Win, chapter 2

2009-05-05T17:34:00.001-04:00

Here it is, another update on my insane quest to revamp my army by the time the Warhammer 40,000 tournament at Cangames 2009 right here in Ottawa, the capital of Canada.

Yesterday, I built my two Attack Bikes and picked up the one remaining Land Speeder I had on order from the local Games Workshop store. Today, I finished building the Land Speeders.

But this is worthless without pics, right? Here they come!

And the freshly-built models:

"You ask me how I made my way
You ask me every where and why
You hang on every word I say
But the truth sounds like a lie"

Live to Win - Paul Stanley

Live to Win

2009-04-30T20:55:00.002-04:00

This is it. Crunch time. Two weeks, one deadline, one tournament. It's time for me to paint my army.

I'll be updating this thread with my progress every step of the way. If I build something, it's posted. If I paint something, it's posted. If I win, it's epic.

Progress thus far:

"Live to win, 'till you die, 'till the light dies in your eyes."
- Paul Stanley, 'Live to Win'

Upcoming Tourney - 1500 point list

2009-04-16T08:08:00.001-04:00

There's a 1500 point 40k tournament coming up next month here in Ottawa, at a yearly board, card, and miniature gaming convention known as CanGames. So I've got until May 17 to buy, build and paint two more Rhinos, two Land Speeders, and two Attack Bikes for the following list. After I finish my Baal and my Assault Squads, anyway.

Maybe I'll chronicle my progress....

Here's the list:

HQ

Chaplain 100

ELITES

Death Company 45p
^ Rhino (40)
- Storm Bolter (5)

TROOPS

Assault Squad 265p
- More Marines (110)
- Power Sword (15)

Assault Squad 265p
- More Marines (110)
- Power Sword (15)

Tactical Squad 235p
- More Marines (75)
- Flamer (5)
^ Rhino (40)

Tactical Squad 235p
- More Marines (75)
- Flamer (5)
^ Rhino (40)

FAST ATTACK

Attack Bike Squadron 100p
- One More Bike (50)
- Both with Multi-Melta

Land Speeder 130p
- One More Speeder (65)
- Multi-melta

HEAVY SUPPORT

Baal Predator 125p
- Heavy Bolters (25)

Derailed!

2009-04-15T11:49:00.001-04:00

Those stalwart few of you who have followed this blog from the beginning may have been wondering what precisely I've been doing, and why, pray tell, have I not been posting? Either that or you've never been here before, or perhaps even you're not terribly interested. Well, I'm going to tell y'all anyway.

Well, reason #1 is a legal research memorandum worth 30% of my mark in Legal Research.

And reason #2 is that I've been busy repainting the Yellow Brick Rd. from Munchkin Land to the Emerald City for my wife - almost done, but still some work to go. You'll find that the Lion's looking a little dark and the Tin Man and Scarecrow are nowhere to be seen. Sneaky gits they are.

Of course, I'm also capable of arguably more 40k-relevant stuff like this:

My plan, after finishing the aforementioned painting, is to continue working on my Baal Predator until it's done.

Speaking of the Baal, here's a shot of the magnets I put into the Heavy Bolters:

The arms on the sponson assembly which normally hold the guns also have had magnets added into them, magnetic poles arranged so that they attract one another rather than repel.

Progress: Baal Predator (Blood Angels)

2009-04-02T08:50:00.001-04:00

Here comes a progress report on my shiny new Baal Predator!

The night before last, I installed magnets on the sponsons of my Baal Predator tank to allow me to swap out my heavy bolters for heavy flamers whenever I chose to do so. It'll also be a great help for storage, since the guns always got in the way before.

Last night, I added another couple of coats of red (a mix of Blood Red and Red Gore which was a bit watery until I thickened it up with some matte acrylic medium and added some flow improver) to the Baal to better match the red on it to my existing Rhino and Vindicator.

To see more images of my Blood Angels army, please visit http://www.flickr.com/
photos/steelpaladin/. Of course, I'll post some pictures as I go - it's just been a little busy for me to take these pictures yet.

A Fatal Case of Tactical Schizophrenia

2009-03-30T21:01:00.002-04:00

In my most recent games, I have found myself at a loss when it comes to a strategy to effectively deal with armour or heavily-armoured troops.

My army had been tuned toward primarily infantry destruction (Death Company, Assault Squads, Tacticals, Baal Predator) and a bit of anti-tank (Vindicator, Lascannon in one Tactical Squad, Meltabombs on sergeants). The only problem is that my army always confuses me when I got into a fight. I never really knew what each component was for. Does my Tactical Squad sit around and fire off its lascannon at that tank, or does it move up and rapid fire the crap out of some infantry? Do I use my Vindicator to thin a crowd, take out Termies/Nobs in Mega Armour, or try to take out that tank? Very, very confusing.

So I'm simplifying it for myself by including some fast, but dedicated, anti-armour elements that, in the case of the flamer-speeders, can later be used to assist with cleanup. Three attack bikes and four land speeders all armed with meltaguns. The attack bikes also have TL bolters so they can join in on the cleanup and can turboboost to enhance their chances at surviving to make contact. But the primary goal of these elements is to take down tanks and/or heavy infantry.

My other units have been similarly pared down. My tactical squads are now BOTH mounted in Rhinos to enable them to move in pace with my assault squads. The idea is to provide close fire support before I bring one or the other assault squad and/or the DC (which will be mounted in a Rhino with the Chaplain, as well, just to increase the survivability of this deadly payload - yes, I know they can't assault out of that can) over to finish them off with a charge or some pistol fire.

I've also increased the points efficiency of my units. My tactical squad sergeants will no longer be armed with power weapons OR plasma pistols (I have built new models to replace the sergeants I've already painted, complete with holes in their backpacks for the banners). My lone remaining tank, the Baal Predator, no longer carries a storm bolter or a hunter killer missile, as I am now no longer stretching for anti-tank capability for a savings of 25 points. I may even, at a later date (or sooner), remove the meltabombs from the tactical sergeants as they will not likely be rushing tanks and use the 10 points to buy another typhoon launcher for a land speeder.

I want a clear division between my anti-armour elements and my anti-infantry elements, and I think I have achieved this. Each tool is easier to use, and its intended use is clearer and more obvious to me in the heat of battle and the fog of war. I was using a hammer as a screwdriver and a screwdriver as a hammer.

Further improvements may include clearing out the meltabombs (potentially redundant, and I'll reclaim 25 points in total from doing so) and maybe even the powerfists on the assault squads (saving me another 50 points - combined with the meltabomb savings, that's one more land speeder).

Without further ado, I present for your viewing pleasure:

1750 point Blood Angels Rapid Strike List

HQ

Chaplain - 105p
- Meltabombs

ELITES

Death Company - 40p
^ Rhino

TROOPS

Assault Squad 280p
- More Marines
- Powerfist
- Meltabombs

Assault Squad 280p
- More Marines
- Powerfist
- Meltabombs

Tactical Squad 240p
- More Marines
- Meltabombs
- Flamer
^ Rhino

Tactical Squad 240p
- More Marines
- Meltabombs
- Flamer
^ Rhino

FAST ATTACK

Attack Bike Squadron 150p
- Two More Bikes
- 3x Multi-melta

Land Speeder 140p
- Multi-melta
- Typhoon Missile Launcher
^ One More Speeder
- Multi-melta

Land Speeder 150p
- Multi-melta
- Heavy Flamer
^ One More Speeder
- Multi-melta
- Heavy Flamer

HEAVY SUPPORT

Baal Predator 125p
- Heavy Bolters

1750p TOTAL