Granny Weatherwax

A dear friend has recently become a fan of Terry Pratchett's Discworld so I've decided to paint a mini for her after one of the best characters.  It's not quite done yet though. 

Armies on Parade 2013

Has it really been a year since I posted my Armies on Parade entry for 2012?  Wow.  Looking back I realized I was not as proactive in getting my current lineup of models ready for this weekend's Armies on Parade.  I wasn't initially planning to go but changed my mind at the last minute.  So most of the models you see here were painted in a week with many a night being up until 3:30 and waking up at 6:30 for work.  So glad I can finally get some sleep.

Without further ado, here's my entry.  Every model, including the base are all Forge World models.

• List of models:
• 1x Praetor
• 1x Librarian
• 1x  Recon Sergeant
• 1x Chaplain Dreadnought
• 1x Centurion
• 10x Assault Marines
• 1x Primus Medicae
• 11x Tac Marines
• 1x Apothecary Detachment
• 3x Jetbikes
• 5x Cataphractii Terminators
• 4x Destroyers
• 1x Contemptor Dreadnought
• 1x Storm Eagle
• 1x Fellblade
• 1x Tech Priest
• 1x Magos Biologis
• 3x Thallax Cohort

Tech adept Sigma-Gamma-two-four-two calibrates and synchronizes auspex and vox signal fidelity with 3 of the Thallax Cohort.

Chapter Master Raldoron leads a squad of Tactical Marines

Leadership watches over the deployment.  Chaplain Dreadnought's fiery oratory emboldens the IX Legion on to greater deeds.

Storm Eagle 'Baal's Vengeance' with a squad of assault marines and a Primus Medicae

Cataphractii Terminator Squad

Recon Sergeant Kaldiel with cameleoline cloak and sniper rifle

Recon Sergeant Kaldiel with cameleoline cloak and sniper rifle

Recon Sergeant Kaldiel with cameleoline cloak and sniper rifle

Blood Angels Destroyers

2nd Company Banner Bearer

2nd Company Banner Bearer

IX Legion

Haven't been as vigilant with this site as I've wanted to be, but I've been busy with work and rebuilding my Blood Angels legion.  Just a few snapshots of some WIP's.

Blood Angels Pre-Heresy Fellblade

Sad to see it go, but unfortunately bills come first.

Big Beautiful Blasphemer

World Eaters Felblade

Those who know me know I'm a massive Horus Heresy nerd.  I love historical fluff in a game, and the 40K universe is possibly one of my favorite scifi worlds ever.  The requirements I have for an awesome scifi universe are lost colonies of humanity, faster than light travel, genetically engineered humans combined with cybernetic augmentation, psychic powers, and a sense of loss and awe when finding lost treasure troves of humanity's heritage.

World Eaters Jetbike

The 40K lore covers all of those and then some.  The Horus Heresy series of novels shines light on an age of myth.  In the 40K timeline, the 'Warhammer 30K' universe took place 10,000 years prior so many of the tales of when the Emperor walked amongst humanity, when the Primarchs fought side by side with their legions, and when the human race stood on the brink of realizing its dream of galactic conquest.  But these events took place such a long time ago that the account of these stories are either lost to the annals of time or have been so blown out of proportion due to the handing down of story from one generation to the next.

Spartan Assault Tank with a Demolisher Cannon?

I've been hoping for some official Heresy-era support from GW for the past 3 years I've been involved in the hobby and it looks like those wishes have come true.  Forge World has finally shown some details about the Horus Heresy expansion they've been working on in secret for the past year.

I just might as well admit to myself that I'll be eating instant noodles for a long time.

Glorious and Beautiful Cataphractii Terminators!  

Zadkiel, Blood Angels Librarian

I had some extra bits laying around and had the sudden urge to do some kit-bashing.  I'm in the middle of reading the Horus Heresy novel Fear to Tread, and reading about the Blood Angels always makes me want to use a Psyker model in my army.

So I present my 3rd Company Librarian, Zadkiel, Sage of the Bloody Sky.

He's composed entirely of extra parts but in the end came out looking super cool.

Head - Dark Angels upgrade kit
Torso, legs, and Staff - Grey Knights
Infernus pistol and left shoulder pad - Death Company kit
Jump pack - Assault marines pack
Right shoulder pad - Chapter House Studios aftermarket pad


Base coated with Kantor Blue
Then entirely washed with Drakkenhoff Nightshade
1st Layer - Kantor Blue + Altdorf Guard Blue 50/50
2nd Layer - Altdorf Guard blue
3rd Layer - Altdorf Guard blue + Space Wolf Grey 50/50
4th Layer - Space WOlf Grey
Glaze - Guilleman Blue (about 4 times)

Minor updates

It's been a while since I've posted anything.  To be honest I completely forgot I had this blog in the first place.  So here are a couple projects I've been working on.  

First is a Forge World Storm Eagle painted up in Blood Angels colors.  Despite the Blood Angels not being able to field one of these beauties, I bring it on as an allied contingent of Codex Marines. It's still nary a work in progress but I'm having a lot of fun painting this thing despite its shortcomings.  And there are many shortcomings.  I've never had a problem with Forge World items until I received this model.  Almost none of the parts fit properly and apparently that was a common theme with many of the first waves of this model.  I've heard that subsequent waves have parts that fit better though, and this model is simply too gorgeous.

My other project is the Gamesday 2012 Blood Angels captain.  While my painting skills are nowhere near that of Joe Tomaszewski (or any other 'Eavy Metal painter for that matter), it's still a challenge to try and replicate their accomplishments.  For me, it's been a great way to learn how they accomplish certain effects through glazes, shading, blending, etc.  Mr. Tomaszewski uses glazes quite liberally for awesome effects.

I still need to touch up the face to smooth it out, highlight the armor, base it among other things.  I'd say it's about 60% done.

Armies on Parade

After toiling for about 2 months and not sleeping Friday night due to the pending Saturday 4pm deadline, looks like all that work paid off.  I won the Mission Viejo Games Workshop Armies on Parade display competition with my Blood Angels Crusade-era display board.

Blood Angels leaving Baal to embark on the Great Crusade and enlighten the Imperium of Man.

Ok so the Stormtalon doesn't exactly fit Crusade era chronology but it's a cool looking model.

Contemptor and Relic Contemptor.  Definitely Crusade era.

Baal is a rad-wasteland.  What wasteland would be complete without a little toxic runoff.

Toxic drain pipe.

Terminator Librarian leading a squad of Tartaros and Cataphractii Terminators

Big man on a big tank with a tiny gun.

Blood Angels led by Azkaellon, Herald of Sanguinius wielding the Spear of Telesto.

Blood Angels Fellblade

Tartaros and Cataphractii Terminators disembarking from a Stormraven

Mark II "Crusade" pattern power armor Assault Marines accompanied by an Assault Sanguinary Priest

Blood Angels Caestus

Mk II "Crusade" and Mk IV "Maximus" Tactical Marines

Land Raider Redeemer

Completed Tartaros Terminators

Finally completed my first squad of Tartaros Terminators.  Building these was a love/hate relationship with the models.  I utterly love the models, but the resin that Forge World used for these, at first impression, felt like they were a similar blend to that of the Finecast resin.  Given that Finecast is a GW trademark, it's understandable why Forge World states they do not use Finecast for their models.

When I first received them, due to the popularity of the models (and the Stormeagle I purchased) the order took about 3 weeks to arrive.  upon arrival, I set to working on them right away, but I was disappointed in that the quality I normally came to expect from Forge World was woefully absent.  The torsos were off-centered, as if the mold had shifted, there were air bubbles in the helmets and the mold lines were super abundant.  Furthermore, due to the molding process, there was a ton of flash to clean off.  But I needed to get these completed for my Armies on Parade diorama which is to be a Crusade-era Blood Angels display; so every Heresy-era model was needed.

I had to liberally use a lot of Greenstuff to patch up some of the problems.  For example, the front facing disc on the shoulder guards were missing on 3 of the shoulders.  So I had to make some out of Greenstuff.  It worked in the interim, but I felt it was not the workmanship I had paid for.

I had contacted Forge World after waiting 2 1/2 weeks for an email reply as it was obvious they were so incredibly impacted that it was simply better to call.  I had spoken to an individual named Simon who was incredibly helpful.  He apologized for the delay in replying to my email and would take care of the problem immediately.  It is also worth noting that I had a Mk IV Apothecary that had a mis-cast apron that needed to be replaced.

During this time, I did my best to paint the current Tartaros Terminators I had on hand, but if you note the shoulders you can see where there are a lot of air bubbles and mold lines.

However, the light at the end was that Forge World has changed the kind of resin they make their Tartaros Terminators with and the replacement kit they sent me is simply and utterly flawless.  It blew me away how amazing the replacements are.  After Armies on Parade is done with, I plan on taking my time and painting them very very slowly.  These Terminators are definitely not my best work.

Terminator Size Comparison

Just a size comparison between various Terminator patterns:

Indomitus vs. Tartaros:

"Cataphractii" vs. Tartaros:

Weathered Stormshield of a Cataphractii:

One big happy Tactical Dreadnought family: