Black Reach Complete!

Work complete! While taking much (100-200 hours?) longer than I originally expected, I really enjoyed the project. I've learned a bit more about my vallejo paint. I struggled with first coat coverage, but I also ended up painting from black and brown basecoats. I will probably go back to some citadel foundations to round out my earlier paint coverage stages on darker models from now on.

I also learned to make a paint chart of all my mixes and washes used. This helped greatly when coming back to work on it after a week, to maintain a uniformity in style. These will get passed on to Rebornflames, to help act as a template towards any new units that might get painted up in the army. I will be doing this with every project from now on.

Charity Auction - Custom Black Reach Painting Challenge

Lets talk charity. My brothers in arms, the G33kwatch crew put on an epic Mass Effect Marathon last year for Childsplay charity, in which they auctioned off my Normandy SR1 model. While I have plans for the SR2 for this coming year's ME marathon, the G33ks have a new 24 hour marathon in the works on June 4th, consisting of many different party games! Talking it over with Charismatic guy Joe, we decided to try something a little different for my crafty contribution to this Slumber Party:


I will be purchasing the Warhammer 40k starter set Black Reach box, and preparing it for the Slumber Party(assembling, basing, priming). Early into the marathon day we will auction this set off, to be painted up to the exact specifications of the winner, DURING the marathon. I will be painting and also jumping into a few of the games and crazy hijinks during the rest of this 24 hour period.

What will Definitely be Included:

• The full Black Reach box contents(minus sprue, unless you really want it..) amounting to a respectable Ork and Space Marine forces. Arguably one of the most generous starter kits to date!
• Painted to match your color choices, or an existing army.
• Based to your desired terrain, or to match any existing forces as closely as possible.

Additional Items I am working to also Include:

• Custom Objective counters (mix of orky and Imperial)
• Extra set of rules and templates (for those who might want to split it up between two new players)
• Protective foam to fit the Blackreach set.
• 3-5 pieces of low terrain so you can play a real match right out of the box!

In addition, if the winner is new to painting and would prefer, I will document my colors and steps carefully. I can paint the base troops in a way more suited for a new painter to match when they add new models. In this case I will spend extra time on the commanders and elites, and may include some starter paints and brushes if I have them available.

Whether you are interested in this auction or not, I encourage you to tune in and watch the marathon during the 24 hour period. We will be playing plenty of fun video games, raffling off a metric ton of prizes to those who donate, doing crazy things for donations, and unlocking g33kwatch member special costumes! Sponser me in your donations to force me to do hilarious/dangerous/informative things while trying to meet my painting deadline!

Lastly, any help in spreading the word on both the auction and event would be greatly appreciated. As we approach the Slumber Party, I will be posting progress and updating this post should any of the specifics change. If you have any questions or suggestions for this Auction, please let me know!

Big Trouble in Little Malifaux

As I work to finish phase one of my Shadow Crows, I'm planning for what needs to be done on my other projects coming down the pipe. In the meantime I've got some smaller projects that have seen some good progress.

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Viktoria Crew Detailing

I really haven't had a good chance to finish learning Malifaux, but that doesn't mean I can't fix up some of my models! I put work into the Viktoria's shading the cloak, adding some decorative lotus petals to the scabbards, etc.




One of my favorites is my Ronin who got herself a Big Trouble in Little China shirt! I would like to add a bit more freehand to some of the other characters sometime soon.

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Burna Boyz

I actually painted these burna boyz a long time ago, but completely missed taking a picture of them. I really liked how they turned out, but I could still use some better shots with proper lighting one of these days. I took this after turning them to green paste with my assault marines (who were in turn, rendered into grey paste :]) Also here is a shot of the infamous Shady Warboss from an angle to show what is going on behind him on the base. His palanquin has been replaced as well, it breaks a lot.

"Our blast templates shall blot out the sun"
"Then wez waagh in da shade!"

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Vanguard Veterans WIP

The Vanguard Veterans have also seen some love. I'm working on getting the Jumppacks ready, but managed to get the last of the beakie heads on and start up some basecoats. I'm slowly finding my way through what variants on my colorscheme to use for the VV and the HQ's. More to come on these guys over the week.

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September's Random Creations

Rather than continue my monthly challenges, I've taken a break for September to get a few pieces done that have been sitting around. Though some are part of an army or warband, there's no real pressing need to get them done.

To start we have two Mordheim bosses: one Skaven and one Orc. While I would love to get the newer Sniktt model, this older one is still pretty good. I was going for a moonlight look, though he could still use a few more layers to bring out a bit more color. I may add detail to the cloak with a Skaven symbol as well.

The Orc was a test of building metal tones out of greys, and it is ok, though I need to work out a bit more rust and possibly use a weathering technique to make chipped black laquer for the armor.

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This demon is a friend's piece that he left about a year ago, hoping I would get to it at some point. I finally did, and I'm glad the inspiration took. The burnt fabric came out better than I expected, but I used an undiluted ink to get the heavier stippled scorches. This has left it a bit too glossy, so I will have to airbrush it with some matte varnish.

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This is a color test for my upcoming RG army. I will most likely go for a darker grey, and may rethink the red secondary color. Maybe a dark blue?

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Some time ago, Joe from Crimson Sundown and I came up with an idea to use smoke to mask a flight stand. I finally got around to giving it a try. I also managed to test out hairspray weathering, though my undercoat was a bit too busy, and I removed too much of the black overcoat. In the end some washes helped to dull the busy piece, but I will try a different approach on the next of the squadron.

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My current project is a ten strong squad of winged Kroot countas Vespid. I never really liked the Vespid model, and it is a bit expensive. So when Gargoyle wings came around, I jumped on the idea of a newly evolved Kroot kindred! I'm going to finish these three up, and then probably paint them before moving on to making the rest.

May Painting Challenge Week 5 - Done!*

*I didn't quite finish the Lilith and Viktoria crews. Theyre definitely up to a tabletop quality, but I've neglected a bit of detailing to finish them off. Viktoria's crew in particular is rather unfinished in highlights and facial details. That being said, I'd rather just leave them at this point and return to finish them up at a later date.

I started this challenge on May 3rd, with the intent to finish on June 3rd. 31 models in 31 days turned into 33 models in 37 days. Not too far off from my mark, this was due more to missed days and subsequent sluggishness to restart painting when I could.

 

So whats next? 

I've had a steadily mounting pile of unfinished terrain, newest of which are some great Terranscapes resin river tiles which I can't wait to start working on. My objective markers are another set of things which should be fun, and probably pretty quick to boot.

Other pieces will be a bit more time consuming, such as the large Tau center which still needs puttywork, sanding, and some extra doodads before its even ready to paint. The bastion is also still getting its required blocks cast from Hirst Arts molds, and I'm kinda making up the pattern as I go along.. The two Tau towers have been primed for ages, but I still think they need a bit more work before they can be painted.

Terrain usually goes pretty quick, so I am going to try to have this stuff done by the beginning of July. Have some terrain just begging to be drybrushed? Still using beer cans as objectives? Join in and get some terrain finished this month!