Terrain - Azyrite Ruins

So cracking on with projects new and old now that I am properly well enough to wield a brush in anger again.

Games Workshop have produced some lovely terrain kits alongside their miniatures for years now, even if I still think it was better when they used to tell you have to make Canals out of polystyrene blocks and cardboard base, or hills out of sheets of polystyrene, etc.

One of the latest ones they made for Age of Sigmar was called the "Azyrite Ruins" and I had my eye on them since they were released.

Instead of just getting the basic Ruins box, I splurged the extra cash for the "Blasted Hallowheart" box, in which you get a full set of Ruins, Four join-able fold out cardboard sheets to make a playing surface 5'5"x3'5" (the average dining room table size...) and a set of three battleplans (scenarios) which join together to make a mini-campaign as such.

These took me around 2 days to complete:

I started by cleaning the models up (obviously) and gluing them to some 6mm MDF scenery base shapes I had lying around in the "Terrain Supplies Drawer":

Next, interior filler was added to the bases to give them some texture:

A covering of sand is added next (some people use PVA for this step, but I find that it often takes too long to dry, I prefer to use a colour of paint which I rarely use or dislike the colour of as it'll all be covered in stuff soon anyway, currently I use a pot of GW Xereus Purple, horrid colour):

A blast of white primer (my go to colour) and things are getting ready to start coming alive:

For the ground colour, I use a base of a mixture of emulsion from two Wilko tester pots, Chocolate Dream is a light biege/brown colour (I couldn't get any of the darker Chestnut colour) and the Supernova colour is as near to black as I could get, its just off...:

After this step, I hit the ruins with a basecoat of Karak Stone:

And then a heavy overall wash of Seraphim Sepia, this shades all the recesses rather nicely ready for the next step:

I missed taking a photo of the next step...

Basically it is a heavy drybrush of Ushabti Bone, but rather then being done in straight lines like a normal drybrush, I moved the brush in circles to make sure to catch as much of the raised detail as possible and to cover any spaces where the Sepia wash may have pooled oddly.
Next on the agenda were the columns, I had had in mind to do these in a Jade Green-ish type colour since I saw on the the Warhammer TV videos about this kit, so Kabalite Green wash watered down 1:4 with water and washed onto the columns:

These were then hit with the same Ushabti Bone drybrush as the rest of the model, when I get round to doing another set of these, I will include this step before the overall drybrush to save a step and save some time, this drybrush though, ties the columns into the rest of the model by adding the weather and dustiness of the rest of the ruin:

At this point the models are essentially complete apart from a little tidying of the bases, this was done by painting the rims of the base with Abaddon Black, the final step was to add some Grass Tufts in places:

They were placed into the cabinet along with some of my finished Order army:

This is a great kit, I am definitely going to pick up another of the Ruins box at some point in the future just for a little more scatter terrain.

Until next time...



 - Lewis

Fantasy - Jade Gargoyle

Also half painted was a Stone Gargoyle from the Reaper Bones range.

Again this is part of my friend's RPG collection, which I already painted up the Earth Elemental for.

I went with a more green scheme for it, rather then the traditional greys, to make it stand out.

Incubi Darkness washed all over with Nuln Oil as a basecoat.
Then successive drybrushes of Incubi Darkness, Sotek Green and Kabalite Green.
Details such as claws and eyes picked out in Black and Red (I need to go back and tidy up that eye...)
Then base to suit.

Until next time...




  - Lewis

Fantasy - Nighthaunt Beginnings

After a recent brush with ill health, I have managed to pick up a  brush again and finish something which has been sitting half painted for the better part of three weeks.

With Soul Wars, Age of Sigmar 2nd Edition's starter box being split between myself and a friend, I am painting it all up for the end of September when we can get together again and have some games.

Starting with some fairly innocuous Chainrasps and a Knight of Shrouds this is the end result:

As has been said a million times or more before me, the new Ghost sculpts from GW are fantastic (if a little fragile at times).

The Knight of Shrouds was originally bought to be used in Silver Tower games, as GW released rules for him in White Dwarf as a player character!
Still a great model to paint up.

The Chainrasps are just fun models, their background is that they are murderers who are cursed in the afterlife to wear heavier and heavier chains as time goes on, this drives them insane and they maniacally surge forwards in a huge horde to kill as much as they can.

A good feeling to get something finish now that I am feeling better and able to pick up a brush again, onto the next job from this project.

Until next time...


 - Lewis

Fantasy - Earth Elemental

Recently I had a chance to visit my friends over in Stockport and visit Element Games and the North West Gaming Centre.

I engaged in two different World War 2 games, one of Crossfire and one of Bolt Action. We enjoyed both games, Bolt Action a little more if I am truthful, so a 15mm World War 2 theme may be along at some point in the future.

As we were leaving however, I noticed the Reaper Bones section of Element Games, and my friend asked if I would like to paint up his Bones collection for when he is Roleplaying.

Never one to turn down the chance to paint miniatures which I haven't personally paid for, obviously I agreed and this Earth Elemental is the first finished model.

Quite a Granite type feel with the rocks, I actually used to different base shades of grey, after an overall wash with Earthshade and FIVE different drybrushes later, I feel that the different underlying shades have been lost, but you live and learn.

I looked at some painted examples of this mini on Google, however most people seemed to just paint it up as rock.
I chose to add some dirt, then grass and greenery to it's shoulders and different Craggy forms of the elemental itself, reasoning that it was an EARTH elemental, I wanted it to look more like this thing had been summoned straight out of the ground, rather then made purely from rock in a Golem-esque fashion.

A little tidying on the base rim (I have just noticed in the photos) and the first Reaper Bones model is finished.


I hope you like it, and until next time

 - Lewis

40k - Ventrillian Nobles Recon

IMPERIAL GUARD SENTINELS...what awesome models in my opinion, apart from the legs which are a bitch to build...

Anyway, a new model has been added to my slow build guard army, and the Sentinel I completed before has had a little bit of a repaint.

My two armoured sentinels in all their glory here, happy with them, and how well they match up with each other paint wise considering they have been painted nearly 6 months apart...

The slight repaint:

 

Before the front panel and the left hand panel on the cab were GOLD, but I decided to make Black the Recon Section colour, and changed those panels accordingly. still completely useless as recon due to the rest of the bling, but this is 40k we are talking about...

 Section Leader Cavendish:

"The cultist's are charging again Sergeant" the vox rang out, "Well bloody well hold them back, we are Ventrillian's, we don't give ground to rabble like this!".

Section Leader Cavendish listened intently to the vox conversation over the rattling of his armoured sentinel as it strode at full pace towards the beleaguered infantry.

"Open fire as soon as you have targets" he voxed to his own squadron, a chorus of "Aye Leader" was the reply from his men.

Auto loaders chattering, the Sentinels opened fire with their Autocannons into the swarming press of heretics as they came into view along the road ahead of them, the Ventrillian infantry cheering even as they fought off the mass of bodies hurling themselves at the barricade.

Raking the hard pan with his cannon, Cavendish spotted a taller man clad in a ragged stormcoat shoving and barging his way through the press of bodies towards the new threat.

"BY THE DARK GODS, I WILL END YOU!" the man screamed, pointing a chainsword towards his machine.

"A duel! how very delightful, chap in the dark coat is mine" Cavendish voxed to his troop and wrenched the hatch above him open, clambering upwards out of his sentinel with a Cheshire cat grin beneath his beard.

 

This entire army was inspired by Warhammer TV's Chris Peach, who made the Ventrillians first for the 6th edition Apocalypse book, He has also had a Sentinel which had a crewman appearing out of the top, which I just had to copy as it is an awesome idea.
A baneblade commander is the main body of Section Leader Cavendish, Pistolier head and then Cadian arms as usual.

A close up of Cavendish.

This model was converted up and painted in less then a week, as our local Games Workshop are having a competition in-store this month, "Best Paint Vehicle/Monster Which Cannot Fly".

Here's my entry, hoping I do well as I am pleased with it to say I only had a week and a bit to get it done.


  Until next time...

 - Lewis

40k - Forge World Metalica army

So, with the Tech-Priest completed, I decided to drag everything which was finished so far out and grab some photos of it all together, probably my only chance to as I am visiting my friend over the weekend and giving him the finished stuff back, there are still some bits to go so I'll still have the cybernetic warriors to work on for a while, but this is the main bulk done:

Looks impressive all together so far. Here are a few close up photos:

Tech-Priest Dominus:

Skitarii Vanguard Squad:

Skitarii Rangers Squad:

Sicaran Infiltrators Squad:

 Sisters of Silence Vigilators Squad:

Knight Crusader Chemosh:

And a Combat Roster list:

One thing which got me thinking during this project is how much this stuff costs and would cost if the worst were to occur.
My friend over at A Cardboard Fortress linked me into this website: https://collectioncalculator.com/
After you make an account, you can plug into it's database all sorts of stuff about your various collections and it will give you a price for how much they are worth, they even link through to specialist insurers who cover "unique" collections such as our hobby throws up over time, with about fifteen minutes of work, I had this lot plugged into the database and the result is eye opening to say the least:

I don't think we really pay much attention to the value of what we are often taking in a case and throwing around the tables.
I am quite worried to find out what the total value of ALL my collection is worth as I finish things off, (you can put unfinished and unbuilt models in the database, but it's more fun to work towards finished stuff obviously).




So with that, until next time


 - Lewis

40k - Forge World Metalica, Tech-Priest Dominus

Tonight, the Tech-Priest which leads the Ad-Mech army was completed.

 He uses an inverted scheme to the rest of the army, not only because I thought it would look good once all the forces were arrayed together, but also to properly mark him out as a priest of the Machine God.

Unfortunately, when my friend gave me the model to finish for him, he was missing his secondary weapon arms, so I had to do a bit of converting.
A pistol came from the Sicaran Infiltrator sprues and the Plasma Caliver is a cut down Space Marine Plasmagun.

I even took the time when painting to make sure to pick out the main Adeptus Mechanicus symbols on him in the halved black and white scheme from ages past artwork.

Overall, I am very happy with how this model has turned out.

 Until next time

 - Lewis