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.

Waiting...

I have a drop pod, paints and glue all somewhere in the depths of the Postal Service at the moment, so i can't do anything hobby wise until they arrive, which is a shame really seeing as all my Soul Drinkers need is another Drop Pod and a paint job on the Vangaurd Veterans and they're at 2000 points AND i've got no more exams so i can settle down and actually get some done. Typical.

Sigh. Maybe tommorrow

Anyway, i see this as an ideal oppotunity to post up a list of my hobby projects over the next few weeks.


Finish my Soul Drinkers, then wait for Sarpedon to arrive

Complete the modelling on 'The Beast'

Turn one of my Chimeras into a Deathstrike launcher (i'll be covering the process on here)

Make a start on the painting of my Malus Darkblade-led Druchii, as they are in this state at the moment, plus twenty corsairs and one painted Cold One Dread Knight:




Of course, this all depends on how quickly the parcel of paint turns up.

Planetstrike and Me

I've been watching the approach of Planetstrike with mixed feelings. Nothing that was published or leaked about it seemed particularly interesting to me. But I got the new White Dwarf yesterday, covering the planetstrike releases and i have to say, i've been converted (what's not to like about flaming spaceship debris falling from the sky!) and i've been feverishly finishing off my drop-pod based Soul Drinkers in time for it.




I wasn't convinced by the Ironclad when i got the GW preview email a month or so ago, with the banner and HK missiles, thinking it looked ugly in a bad way, with the overly bulky missiles, oddly patterned hull and banner. I think GW made a seriously bad decision when they chose which of the studio's models was going be sent out as a sneak preview, as i don't know about anyone else, but it nearly cost them my business in the dreadnought department.

But seeing the one with what looks like smoke launchers attached to its hull in White Dwarf, I'm convinced that the Ironclad kit might actually be worth £25 of my hard-earned money.

What's more, looking at the pictures in WD, it looks like the front can be left open, giving me the idea to model the wounded marine suspended inside, replacing the visor plate with clear plastic.

Dreadnought with fully modelled and painted interior is on the way!




However, looking at the pics of the land speeder storm, i've realised that it doesn't come with a squad of scouts and, to make matters worse, the scout passengers you get seem to come it just one pose, as no matter what chapter they come from, all of them look the same. Damn. Conversion work is going to be needed.
Still looks cool though and i'm currently trying to figure out how to justify three of them in my Soul Drinkers army. Might even kitbash a few as Deffkoptas for my orks.

The terrain's been firing off all sorts of ideas in my mind too. I'm thinking of making a mountain fastness with two Bastions, a set of defence lines and a few bits of foam.

In other news, assault cannon armed razorbacks are going to be easy, what with the land raider accessory sprues being released next month. I picked a bad time to collect a themed army. I'm tempted to start a Salamanders army just to have all this stuff!

Orks of all varieties

Thought i'd post up some pics of my orks. I apologise now for the poor quality camera work, but the flash is stuck on my camera and i can't turn it off, despite my many attempts.

Warboss Igork da Pirate Boss and one of his Nobz. I abandoned the greatcoat idea in the end and subtly converted a Black Reach Warboss. Note the peg leg.




Nob with Big Choppa



A Goff Rocker i found on the GW website a while back and just had to have it. Unfortunately i had no place for it in my army, so i use him as a Nob with Waargh! 'Banner



Nob Biker, converted from SM Attack Bike and official test model for the Bad Moon mercenary contingent of my army.