Dark Angel Knigth and Eagle guard

Well, here we are again.Long time, no blogg. I have been having problems focusing on the painting lately. To much other stuff going on, which means the work on the last Myrmidon is going very slow at the moment. In the last two weeks I have only manage to finish one of the weapon arrays. It is quite a large part and it is mostly green which makes it tedious to paint. I need to make sure I take the time to get the shading as smooth as possible so that I will not regret it later on and there for I am stalling with the painting. Instead I have been doing some smaller models with more variation to them, and most importantly, something I can finish in one or two nights. There are two terminators, one for the Desert Eagles and one for my pre-heresy fallen Dark Angels. When painting the Eagles guard for the Desert Eagles I realised that it was quite some time since my last Desert Eagle and I did not get the colours quite right. I thin k I will have to start writing down the recipes. The Dark Angel turned out ok. I quite like the sinister look of the model and pose. I think it captures the look of the pre-heresy, medieval, full plate, knight. I have also been working a little bit on Opus, but I do not have enough progress yet to post any pictures. The idea is to finish the flight deck so that I can start painting that, even if the rest of the model still has quite a lot of work left. That should give me some motivation to actually focus a bit and get some progress in the build. I would like to have it structurally done before summer, then I can build details in smaller bouts.

Armies of Agis

Today I decided that it was once again time to "base" the models I have painted so far. As you might have realised so far I am not a great fan of bases, they are a necessary evil to keep the models standing but nothing to spend to much time on. I do think the models look better with a finished base, but in my opinion, it should be as neutral as possible but still go with the flow of the army. That being said, I am no big fan of scenic bases where the base in it self is more intricate than the model, and the notion, of the model constantly dragging a ruined building around with it just do not make sense to me. So in the spirit of simplicity I decided to cover the basic black bases with some gravel just to hide the plastic but not to steal attention from the model. I realised that I probably had not done this in the last 3-4 years so there were quite a lot of models that needed this treatment, and I still have some flying bases left to do... . Once I had removed al the models that needed gravel around their feet, from the cabinets I realised that there where not that many models left on the shelves. So I decided to pull the rest of the models out and make a group shot of each army I am currently painting models for. I do have a Dark Angels, Space Wolves and Astra Militarum (Imperial guard) army also, but these are mostly leftovers from my gaming days and are armies I do not actively paint models for.
Instead I realised I had some new "armies" that I actually have not played at al or at least to a very limited extent and hence their unbound character, or complete disregard for FOC or other rules regulating composition and weapon combinations (It is al down to dynamic posing and cool individual models).
What I have is a Mechanicum force to go with my Knights and Titans (not in the shot). This "army" consists of two units of Scitarii, a combat robot (probably similar to a catellax) and some misc Mechanicum personel. These where conceived and built from other GW kits before Forge World released any Mechanicum troops. There are also a Myrmidon combat walker (the name Myrmidon is now used for some other Mechanicum troops, but they have always been myrmidons to me). There is also a two legged walker, very similar to some sort of dino raptor. This is a model I built just as a test. The idea was to build two more but I have abandoned that as I do not think it follows the aesthetics of the rest of the army. I think my next large investment into the hobby will be some proper Mechanicum troops from Forge World, I will just see when the funds become available and how much of what I already have is still unpainted at the time.
Then we have the Fallen/Pre Heresy Dark angels. These are basically the Dark vengeance box painted as all black canopy Dark Angels. I also attached a hell drake and a Forge/Mauler/Fiend that really did not have a solid attachment but looked good with the rest of the models, and they do share a shelf in the cabinet. This is an army that I am staring to like more and more, so there will defiantly be some more additions. I do have some more assault marines with jump packs to bring them up to a full 10 man squad. There is also another terminator with lightning claws that will eventually be brought up to a full 5 man unit. I think they also need some more tactical marines, as the ones from the Dark Vengeance box look a little bit to static. Then of course I would like some vehicles etc but we will have to see what happens. Fw might also release some nice 30k stuff for the Dark Angels.
Then there is also a Khorne force, consisting of a Lord of Skulls, a defiler and some berserker. I have recently added some demonic support in the from of Blood crushers and some Blood Letters. This army will get the rest of the Blood letters painted to fill the 10 man squad. Then I would like to make some Berserkers on blood crushers even though I do not believe that such troops are available in game any more (if they ever where). Then I will make a Daemon Prince on a hell drake and perhaps the Hell Lord also joins them in the future. This "army" will probably never be a self consistent army in its own right but it is fun to paint when I need another colour scheme or I wish to build some kit bash monster.
The Space Wolves are in principle part of my old Space Wolves army, but since their colour scheme is quite different I present them as a separate entry. I would not even say that they are an army that I am actively painting models for but since they represent both Wolf Guards in power and Terminator armour, some Grey hunters and Blood Claws and two ICs they are at least the embryo of something.

Last but not least we have the Desert Eagles, who are sort of the trash-bin of my painting, if I want to paint a model and I have no real army for it, or if I feel like building something that is not according to rules or I just want to relax with a very basic painting scheme the chance is that it will be a Desert Eagle. There are tonnes of stuff I would like to paint for this army and like their back story, there is no telling what they will find next in the large underground stash that they where set to guard.

Well, these are the main "armies" I am painting models for at the moment but there are other contributions as well that does not necessarily end up as Desert Eagles, such as the Grey Knights and some other models not portrayed here. My main interest are building, converting and painting... and sometimes dreaming about playing, so chances are that if some new cool mini (imperial or imperial derived) shows up it might get painted any way.

Desert Scorpion, done.

I finally managed to squeeze some painting time in between the rest of my things to do. The Desert Scorpion, as I have decided to call it, is a direct fire, tank hunter, mounted on a six legs self propelled chassis. This model has no real equivalent in the game so I guess that is will just sit in the cabinet as all of my other models =). When I started this project back in I done remember, it was meant to be part of my mechanicum force. It did however not go well together with the rest of my home made kit-bashes design wise, so it was reassigned to my Desert Eagles. Well it has been several years in the making but now it is done. I still have two more defiler based walker to finish, that I started at about the same time. We will see when they get done (my wife insists that I really should make an effort to finish them before starting new projects).

Scorpion update and another GK

Just a short update. Just got back from the last work trip before vacation so I have not manage that much. But I am work along on the Desert Scorpion. The legs soon has the base paint on, then it will be weathering and detailing. Since it is quite tedious to put in so much sand colour, I have to paint it in stages, one area at a time, I also work on some infantry models in-between. This time it is another Grey Knight. This one I built as a apothecary. I did not go for the traditional with work but kept to the grey metallics. Well that is it for now.

Update, Desert Scorpion and the Fool

Time is running and soon it is time for some vacation, but not yet, still have a few weeks to go with at least two more trips. This combined with my inability to finish of the garage makes my painting progress very slow at the moment. But, hopefully this will improve once I start spending some time at home again. Well, have managed to paint a little bit on the scorpion. The main gun has gotten its sand colour and some basic chipping, I have also blocked in some metal parts. Once that is done I will add some grease stains and soot. I think it is coming together nicely.

I have also painted some more on the Fool. This time it was the shoulders/wings/? that got some attention. I have no idea what these things are supposed to be or what they do. However, they have a quite cool interior ring that I decided to paint up as some thruster part or something similar. Sadly these parts will be covered in the original build and they are only visible if the model is put together slightly different, but in this pose I think the whole thing looks a bit strange. So I will do a compromise and mount them in almost the correct position but with a slight offset to show the interior ring.

Well that is pretty much it...  until nest post.

Opus and Scorpion update

  I managed to get a solid day of hobby in this week. Most of the day was spent with the Opus Magna. I have now attached the side plates to the deck modules as well as internal wall on the low deck and some doors. In principle this means that I can start filling all the gaps with GS and start sanding. I have also been working on the interlocking of the modules so that they will be self supporting and this might need some more work before committing to tuchups.

I have also started painting the Desert Scorpion. Sadly I forgot to score it with battle damage before starting to paint. This means that it will lock slightly smoother than the rest of the Desert Eagles. I tried to paint some damage and so in the 3D style, but it only looks flat, =(. I really can make that technique work. Well, it will be as it will be. I can at least chip the paint on corners and edges to make it blend in with the rest. The pics show the top body of the Scorpion pre damage and after.

It really is fun to paint some eagles things again. It is something with the paint scheme that makes it relaxing.

Ravings of a diluted mind...

The last few days have not been easy. I got sent home from work on Monday with orders to rest and not show my self until next Monday. Obviously all the travelling I have been doing lately has taken its toll. This has meant that in principle I have more time for hobby, but I also have a garage with two storage rooms and a carpentry workshop to finish so time is some what divided. The fact that I am a bit stressed out also means that I can not focus as well as I would wish I could. However, my mind is racing with Ideas for possible builds and what I would like to do. So, since I have time and I am not really expecting any great progress I let my self run wild and started some new and old projects. I have painted a little bit on the Fool, I also managed to almost finish the last juggernaut. Apart form this I started a new project from pieces left over by the Hell Lord build. This will be a Bane blade sized vehicle with a massive back mounted artillery piece. There is no fluff for this but in general it will be a Khorne Duesenberg with a big gun rack built from the tracks of a Lord of skulls and some left over Bane blade parts. I also re-started work on an old model that has been hanging around the to do shelf for the last two or three years. It is a Desert Scorpion tank hunter. Originally it was meant for my Mechanicum army of walkers but the style of the model did not really get a long with the rest so it has been moved to the Desert Eagles as something they found in the stash of equipment they where guarding. It really improved with the addition of a tail and a more aggressive tilt to the super structure. well, hopefully I will be able to focus enough to finish some of these projects.

Still here

Once again work and the house has kept me from painting and blogging. This time it is more than a month since my last update and I cant really say that I have much to show for it, if you do not count 70 square meter of garage plastered, sanded and painted, as well as a few extra walls. That and a trip to Japan. Well, I have managed to get some painting time in between all the other stuff. First of is the latest model which is a Blood letter on a juggernaut carrying an icon. This time I remembered to paint it in several sessions preventing the brush to get clogged up and destroying the paint job as happened last time I painted one of these. The next model is a winged assault marine for the Desert Eagles, I have not come up with a suitable name for them yet. I really like the model but I am not sure if it really fit in the Desert Eagles colours. Well it goes well with the other models with wings though. It might be the helmet that I am not to stoked about.

During my visit to Japan I also picked up some other models, non 40k related. The first is the VF-1s of Roy Fokker. As a kid I loved the Robotech (Macross amalgam) series. I spent many hours trying to build veritechs in LEGO. I have always wanted one that is actually transformable and as far as I understand this kit can be transformed between the three different modes. I also picked up another kit of some random battle tech that sat on the shelf, Nobunaga's the Fool. I have no real relationship with this more than it looked nice and I wanted some typical Japanese style mech. As it turned out this is the mech of the main character in a new Anime. So I might have to get hold of the series to get inspired.

These kits will be side projects and even if this blogg is about 40k I might report on the progress as I get around to painting them. The models actually do not require painting as all parts that have different colours are already cast in plastic of the appropriate shade. However, the models will look very flat if I just stick them together, so I will use what I have learned about painting 40k vehicles to these models to try to give them some more depth.

Desert Eagle Centuriion

As I have finished my Defiler Knight on time I treated my self to some plastic crack. As a holiday treat I bought a box of centurions and I decided that this was the time to paint one. The model is very detailed and I am sorry that the photos do not convey the colours of the model correctly. Apart from the some what cramped leg position I do like these models. One might try some conversion work on them to make them more dynamic but on the other hand, they are supposed to be walking tanks. Well, now my Desert Eagles have a centurion and there is two more to come.

Update on the Death Guard, Hell Lord and other stuff

This week as not seen much painting. Most of my time as been spent on building things and trying to get my car to work again. But I did finish of my trio of Death Guard. I also painted a Fallen Dark Angel thrall as well as pepping two assault marines to be painted as fallen angles. I have also been playing around with a Desert Eagle terminator designated as Eagle Guard. But most of the time has been spent on the legs for the Hell Lord. On my last post it was pointed out that the thigh armour looked a bit over dimensioned and it was suggested that I make them smaller. This however is tricky as I am using some plastic parts as decoration and they have their shape which I cant do much about. Instead I thought that I could make the legs more even by adding graves to the lower part of the leg. This has not been finished and they are only mock-up mounted on the legs at the moment. Apart from that I added some pistons to the back of the thighs. I also spent some time to fix the belly canon onto the pelvis, balancing it on three hydraulic pistons. Now I just have to fix the details on the legs and pelvis so that I can mount them properly. The feet also needs to get some attention. Then it is on to the upper body, the axe, the shield and finally the flight pack with wings and the tail...  so much left to do.