Cult of the Rusted Claw WIP #1

So, the Kill Team starter set happened. Let's gloss over the fact that I've already got several other projects running in parallel. What could possibly go wrong? Anyway ... a combination of factors, but I've embraced it and want to get my Genestealer Cultists running as quickly as possible.

From the rulebook and official GW force, I really liked the look of the Cult of the Rusted Claw.

Then I saw one actually painted up by a non-GW'er (https://twitter.com/Terminatortids/status/1031486816518582272) and thought they still looked great! I'm sold on the idea, so off we go ...

Much cutting, clipping, swearing and gluing later ... I have a force assembled.

You'll notice there's a Skitarii force in the background too. Let's ignore that, and it can come as a wonderful surprise when I actually paint them up.

After priming, I realised the basecoat needed to be significantly brighter, or my planned colour scheme wouldn't work. So over the black goes a 50/50 mix of khaki and white, then it's a case of starting to fill out the darker items of clothing - starting with the boots.

Heads will remain unattached until I'm happy that the inside of the hoods are finished.

It was at this point I realised there had been an error, and there's a slightly graininess to the primer on the models. That'll teach me for using a rattlecan on figures, instead of saving the cans for scenery.

Church Tank: WIP #1

This is a little bit of playing catch-up, as these shots have already made it to Instagram - but were lacking a detailed description.

I picked up the Kill Team starter box last weekend as I thought the scenery was suitably gothic for this project. The sheer amount of scenery you get in the box made it a real steal for the price point. The extended length of the pieces compared to the older Imperial Sector kits gives everything a grander feel. Coupled with an old, original Baneblade that was gathering dust in a cupboard ... we have the start of the project.

Constituent components being clipped out and lined up to gauge what we want to do. You'll note some of the older Imperial Sector pieces here, as I have a second box of these still to build at some point - so was looking to incorporate some of the more military themed items.

I want a grand front to this tank, so we start with the largest arch, then add panels behind it to reinforce the church theme. By the end, they'll all be stained glass ... hopefully!

Dark chocolate digestives are essential on larger build projects. But it was a reminder that I do need to start running again, because they're giving me a winter coat ...

So at this point we have the main structure. It's literally the chassis of the Baneblade, as the turret and front plates over the tracks meant it felt too tanky and not churchy enough (technical term). It still feels like a box on top of a tank though, but we're heading in the right direction.

Church Tank: Introduction

I stumbled over the work of artist Kris Kuksi (https://www.kuksi.com/) a few weeks ago. His sculptures are incredible; the intricacy and finesse is worth your time. What drew my eye in particular was his  insane Church Tank ...

... so now I'm on a mission to build my own version for 40k. The plan is that it can be the centrepiece of a board as terrain, an objective or a NPC unit.

Sector Imperialis: Manufactorum

Loved painting this probably most of all the buildings. Packed with ridiculous, fiddly details to fixate on and fuss over almost indefinitely. I opted to keep this building quite clean and free of Martian dust as I felt there'd inevitably be a Mechanicum invention that prevented the climate conditions impacting it.

Painting the hazard stripes was contagious. It started with the blast windows, then moved to the fans and threshold of the door too. So many buttons, vents, pipes, cables, fans and corners to fur up with rust and mold.

What a blast this was. But they swapped out the million skulls for two million rivets instead. It does take a toll on your sanity after a while!

Sector Imperialis: Honoured Imperium

The fastest pieces in the set. Take some heavy body acrylic black and white, add a little green wash and brown wash, and that's literally it. Pleased with how the stone effect turned out.

I did add a second, darker wash to the statue base just to encourage your eye to look at the statue and not what it's stood on.

Sector Imperialis: Basilicanum

Phew.

This has been a rough couple of months, but I think there's light at the end of the tunnel and it isn't oncoming traffic. Finally.

Quietly, when time allows, I've been painting up my 40k scenery as my mental capacity for anything more complex has been zero. This is the first of the buildings, my Basilicanum. It isn't the same as the new Kill Team themed scenery, it's part of the older, Imperial Sector releases. Hard to believe I bought these nearly a decade ago and have only just started painting them.

My gaming board is set on a red earth planet, so let's call it Mars for the moment as I don't have many other reference points, and imagination isn't my forte.

I've really enjoyed painting these. From broad sweeps of the brush for the terrain, down to fiddling over little details in the scenery itself. From a little gas cannister pushed up against an oil drum, the Martian earth catching in shattered window frames, old propaganda posters, deactivated control panels, to mold on the underside of the roof tiles - which is a hidden treat and not in the photos.

You will be bored of scenery over the next couple of weeks, I promise. But this has been a form of therapy for me, and it's brilliant to have painted terrain to accompany my army on the table.

A little scruffy bonus shot, just to prove that I am painting the underside of the floors too. The introduction of mold, which may be a work in progress as I perfect my techniques for this.

Fishermen: Tentacles & Shark

May was a funny old month, with work kicking my behind, but I still managed to get a couple of small projects moving. One current focus is trying to complete my Fishermen lineup - so I tackled Tentacles and Shark.

First time in a long time I've tried doing any wet blending. That wasn't terrible, and fun to use such bright colours for a change!

Conversely, here's Shark. Who I was far less happy with ...

... but it's out the way, and that was a painful experience, as my ability to paint small figures to a reasonable standard has disappeared altogether. This usually means I'm feeling a little jaded, so giving myself a few days off before diving back in.

Sergent Corwinn

I've made a conscious decision this year to focus on tabletop quality at 28mm scale, and try to push my skills for larger pieces. Bigger surfaces to learn on, more opportunity to play with colour. This is the first serious effort I've made for something approaching competition level.

What a blast this was to paint. I picked it up ... two or three years ago at Salute, at a guess?  Florian at Wonderlands was running a promotion for pre-orders, so I picked up a whole stack of his awesome figures. The large surfaces were intimidating me and so was the face sculpt. So it went in a drawer. But this year I won't let the sculpts get the better of me.

I want him to feel beaten, tired and utterly anonymous, so there's no markings on the armour. Nothing to distinguish him from a million other soldiers in identical suits.

After starting the face a good month ago, going this way and that, I reached a point of satisfaction (oo-er) and then it was time to hit the armour ...

Base colours airbrushed on, then of playing around with working out shapes and damage. This is a seriously worn suit of armour. The rust and pitting is everywhere.

Haven't got the volumes quite right, but I'm taking those as a learning for the future, not something to keep picking at on this. Colours pleased me, and I tried to keep armour a little cooler - but organic parts (face + rust) a little warmer.

I was happy to get a temperature change on the right hand side of his face, as that's a little toward the shadow and should be a little cooler and reflecting a little of the metallic armour, than the left side of the face tilted upwards.

Super happy with this. We will all see hundreds of other better painted miniatures this week, but this one is mine and I'm very pleased with the results.

Gnothagam the Proud

Who can resist an ork in a shirt like that? Not me. Look at it!

Enjoyed playing with skintones, and keeping the jacket neutral to let the shirt do the talking.

That's the lot on piratey additions for the moment. All told, it took about eight hours to complete the three orks. I think we could say this is "decent tabletop" as a standard, and wouldn't try to pass it off as more.

Vrogak Ball Shooter

An ork dandy, if ever there was one.

Simple, bold colours, designed to be offensive as a combination. I picture him up in the crows nest of a pirate ship, sniping at passing ships while wearing his garish outfit.

Grey Horde: April 2018

Bought: 13
Sold: 1
Painted: Nazi zombies (20), Orks (3), Commissar Yarrick

Salute was VERY quiet for purchases, and to be honest, that's probably a good thing. Picked up a few interesting character sets from Bad Squiddo and Heresy, and a couple of random pieces, but that's about it! Quite a comedown from previous years.

It was with a little sadness I sold off my Black Sun Barbarian to a friend, but it would have languished in the backlog for years. This will see it loved and completed in the next decade. I can always buy another one in the future if the urge takes me.

Total: -10

Mighty Epigruel

Warmonger is a sister company to the excellent Foundry, and their orks take me back to the late 80s GW era Orks, where every model offered its own character. I picked a few up at Salute two years ago and left them in a drawer - and this was their time to come out and be painted.

I'm adding a few of these fine fellows to my pirate band, and the chef was the first in the set. He's truly miserable, and was a joy to paint.

Morticians: Display Base WIP

This is a little catch-up post covering the display and travel board for my Guild Ball Morticians team.

It started life as a Mob Football tray from Bendy Boards (http://www.bendyboards.co.uk/) but wasn't quite sufficient for my needs. The black mat you can see peeking through is magnetic sheeting, and I've attached metal washers to the underside of all my figures. It's strong stuff and you can turn the populated board upside down and nothing falls out, or mount the washers sideways for a test photo ...

I wanted the board to have a little character, so using some plaster resin (you can see it in the first picture) I built some stone walls. After that, I took some Vallejo basing paste to fill in the gaps and add earth. Basically, it should look graveyard-ish by the time it's finished.

Priming this thing was the "what have I done" moment. We're way outside my comfort zone here ...

... but it's okay! Some  greys, some browns and a bit of foliage and it's looking like an actual thing now. Phew. Still need to tidy up the black edging but we're almost there.

I've added grass clumps, some static grass to support the clumps, more grass peeking through the gaps between stones.

... and after a few months' thinking it's finished. I went back and painted brick patterns across the top of the wood, as it looked strange without it. Add a few details on the base and call it done!