A Mime is a terrible thing to waste

A nice shiny parcel from GW arrived this morning, containing a Deceiver boxed set and blister pack of three classic eldar rangers.

Naturally, i didn't pass up the chance to crack them open as soon as possible and get going.

Now i have two very-nearly painted mimes(rangers) on my desk and work has begun painting up the avatar of the laughing god.

Pictures once i find my camera

EDIT: Pics are here. The pic of the Deciever/ Avatar aren't the best, but it's all i could do.

A few of the base colours have been applied. I think i need new pot of tentacle pink, as it doesn't seem to look right when applied to any models any more.



The Mime's are going to have slightly more muted colour schemes that the other Harlequins, denoting their role as infiltrators and espionage experts. Also, what's the point of Mimes who don't wear black and white?

Avatar of Cegorach?

I've had an idea for a really cool addition to the Harlequin-themed army i'm planning. An Avatar of the Laughing God!

I got the idea from reading through my back issues of WD and found a Laughing God model, which someone named Bryan Shaw painted for Los Angeles games day in 2003. The model, as far as I can tell is simply a Deceiver model painted up in a Harlequin-style colour scheme with the necrons on the base removed.

This got me thinking that this could be a great alternative model to the Avatar of Khaine, which i've wanted to include in my WIP all-harlequin force for a while now, but never made it in, through dint of being devoted to the wrong god, but this way it can use the same rules, just instead it looks like it belongs in a force devoted to Cegoarch, rather than Khaine

So, what do people think? The pic's on page 142 of UK WD 300 if you're interested

Motivation and where to find it.

Lack of motivation is common factor in many a unpainted or unassembled army, with many gamers unable to bring themselves to devote the time to getting it done

Personally, i have mild Aspergers Syndrome, so once i'm working on something, i'm able to focus on it for hours at a time , only emerging for food and coffee.
However, finding the motivation to get into that 'painting zone' is a huge problem for me.

Luckily, there are two simple tricks i've found that work better than most:

1. Special Events

I find preparing for leagues, campaigns and special games like apocalypse, etc to be the biggest motivator, as I really don't like playing with unpainted forces.

For example, i'm in the process of painting a Dark Elf army that would never have gotten past the grey plastic stage if it wasn't for the fact that my local Gaming Club is starting a WHFB league in a few weeks time.

Like-wise, my Ork pirate army was mostly unpainted and sitting on the shelf until a 40k campaign started up in january. Now, after six months hard campaigning, which unfortunatly cumulated in the defeat of Waargh!!! Igork, I have 4000pts of painted Orks, including a Stompa to show for it, so i don't mind too much that i lost.

I find that in campaigns, because lists evolve as you go along, if you want to include new unit in your force the next week then you should say to yourself that you won't field them unless they're painted. This means that you're far more likely to get it done, as it's beneficial to your gaming, as well as the overall look of your army, rather than 'something i should really do, but can't be bothered'

2. 'What do i need to do?'

This is a technique that many gamers, including GW advise you avoid like Nurgles Rot, but it honestly does work.

Work out everything you want to get built and painted over the next few weeks and lay them out on your hobby desk. Then say to yourself 'I'm not going to paint anything other than what's here'. Then whenever you sit down to paint, whatever you decide to work on, it's progress in some form or another. This is what i'm doing for the huge backlog of stuff i posted up a week or two ago, and i'm halfway done already!

Psyker Squad WIP

These are my first attempt at sculpting more than just details, so i decided to stick to simple shapes, hence the large amount of huge eyes.

Basically, i'm aiming to use these as a Psyker Battle Squad in my traitor guard army. They're at the stage where the basic shaping and 'muscles' are done, but i still need to do the details, which i plan to do tonight.

If you're new to sculting, i'd definately recommend using existing models as the basis for your work, even if it's just to form the shape of the torso. I say this because one of the most difficult things to make is that all-important basic shape that will define the entire model.
Doing this also cuts a stage out from the overall process as it's a pre-made 'skeleton' for the miniature. In the case of my Psyker Squad, the main models i used as a basis were Black Reach Orks with the arms removed, which seem ideal for making hunchbacked and deformed mutants. I also used some old tyranid parts i had knocking about.

Right, that's enough rambling from me, on to the pics. Any thoughts and/or constructive criticism are welcome, as i'm still not 100% sure on them. Soory they're not the best quality photo's, but my camera's on the blink again.

Too many projects!

I have far too many models to paint. This is the view of my hobby table at the moment.





Once i've built my mutant psyker squad, i'm planning on painting my Dark Elf Cold One Knights and Crossbowmen (finally, hurrah!!), then build the Drop Pod. After that, it's a matter of what grabs my attention.

I figure that if i lay everything i need to do out across my workspace, then it will motivate me to get it done. Hopefully.

Marbo and a Warlord

I'm still waiting for parcels to arrive, so i'm posting up a pic of my Guardsman Marbo and announcing my next project: A scratchbuilt Warlord Titan!

Details to follow once i have them locked down, but for now enjoy my Marbo in all his gang-conscript glory.

Grah!!!!!

Frustrated wouldn't even come close to what i'm feeling now

The package was only dispatched today, so it's not going to be here for 3-5 working days, essentially cutting off all painting and modelling until it turns up.


So instead i'm posting up more pics



Genestealer which i painted up in fit of Space Hulk rumour-induced excitement



My Iron Hand Straken, which I started paintig up the the day before the news of the the new model was announced. I might paint up a Chaos Space Marine champion to represent him, as the stats for him are closer to a space marine champion than an imperial guard commander, no matter how good he is. Obviously, i'll still need the official model for stuff like tournaments, etc, but for pick up games i'll be using the champion. Another thing to add to the 'when the paint arrives' list




Binky. Painted up in an experiment to see if the genestealer scheme could be carried over to the rest of the the tyranid army.




WIP Ork Warboss i'm working on. Needs some serious work, but i ran out of Badab Black and the various shades of green i needed at the wrong time. The idea behind him is that he's Igork after the campaign i've been playing recently. In the final battle he got caught in the charge of Chapter Master Shan of the Steel Avengers. He took the Commander down, but got taken down as well in the process, so i'm saying he survived, but was subjected to the attentions of his over-eager Painboyz, hence the bionic elements. I like to remodle my commanders occasionally, so they seem to gain a history and life of their own.