Days 20 & 21 Pink Horror & Herald of Tzeentch

I was really interested in the Khorne Daemonkin codex when it came out. It fixed a few things, added a few useful units for daemon players, & made me consider branching out a bit. As I evaluated my mini inventory it occurred to me that I have a lot more Tzeentch units then any other Chaos faction, so I decided then to start building toward a Tzeentch Daemonkin codex.

These are two more additions to that goal:

My Daemons have all been painted with a color scheme in mind. All Slaanesh are grey & pink, Khorne is red, Nurgle is green, & Tzeentch is blue. That's why all my "pink" horrors share a similar blue skintone. It fits thematically, since all pink horrors are actually two blue horrors, but honestly, I just like the look a lot better.

A few years back, in December, I remember reading a message board where folks attempted to judge the worst-looking miniature of the year. There had been a few contenders, but this miniature was consistently rated in the top 5.

Sure, he's goofy-looking, and none too intimidating, but he's got some nice detail. I've painted a lot of fire in my day, so I decided to switch it up & paint a bit of green flame for fun. The sculpt was a bit busy, especially the feathers on the back, but it's fine in my book.

Nurgle later today.

~Muninn

Days 17 & 18: Skink & Amber Mage

I'm about a week behind at this point, which is the furthest in the hole I've ever been during this challenge. Long story short, I'd forgotten my Summer college finals were this week & I had to concentrate on the last week of classes. I've made some ground though, & I hope to be able to paint 2+ minis a day from this point forward.

Last Friday's mini is an oooold Skink mini I bought when I first started painting. My sophomore year of high school a buddy & I paid for a miniature painting seminar at a local game store (which has since closed) & I walked out with a lizard men painting starter box. After that I picked up a few more blisters, including some metal skinks.




















This guy always stood out because of the weird head frill. I've never seen any other skinks with that. When I originally started painting the minis almost 15 years ago I slathered it in yellow, so I stripped it & decided to stay true to the original. I added a few purple spots on the head and back for character as well. He isn't my favorite for the month, but I've done worse.

Next, I previewed this guy earlier, so I figured I should make sure I finished it before the end of the month. He's probably my favorite mini of the month, so far.

I figured a bald eagle would be too stereotypical, so I opted for a Golden Eagle instead. Now that he's all completed I'm really pleased with how the conversion worked out. When I fist blue tacked the bits in place I was skeptical wince the legs looked so plain, but with the hip cloth you can hardly tell they come from a generic chaos troop. It's a good way to finish Fantasy Week.

Tomorrow I'll start posting minis from Daemon Week, and try to catch up as quickly as possible.

More later,

~Muninn

Day 16: Ogre Bull

I'm behind in my painting duties.

It turns out vacation with my wife's family isn't necessarily a time to relax, rather, it is an occasion where everyone spends most of their waking hours with members of the family, cooking, riding, shopping, eating, etc. That isn't a complaint at all, it's just an observation. There isn't much time alone, and given that her family doesn't understand my enjoyment of painting, or nerd culture, I only broke out my painting stuff after everyone had gone to sleep. That really didn't give me a lot of time.

One of the minis I managed to finish while traveling was this guy.

A few years back I won a local painting competition and walked away with an Ogre Kingdoms battalion box. I had a buddy who played OK, so I figured I'd give him a chance to buy it. He passed on the box, and it was pushed to the back of my closet. I like Ogres thematically, and because they're an elite army, which means it'd take less time to paint a whole army. If I remember correctly a whole army took about 20-25 ogres, which isn't too daunting

While coming up with a color scheme I liked the idea of an Ogre clan that had lived in Araby, and had interbred with Djinn there. I'm not sure if that's possible, but I couldn't find anything that could refute that idea. Either way these Djinn-Ogres would have ruddy red skin and white hair, bronze armor, and dessert-esque clothing. I decided to stick to browns and khaki for the clothes.

The skin itself took about 6 steps.
1. Basecoat of Mechrite Red
2. Wash of Reikland Fleshshade
3 & 4. Progressively lighter layers of Mechrite Red and Dwarf Flesh (about 3:1 & 1:1 respectively)
5. a final highlight of Dwarf Flesh
6. a wash of Baal Red

I feel like it's a nice reddish skin, which stands out without being too cartoonish. Most of these paints are outdated, so if I do stick with this scheme I'll probably have to find some substitutions moving forward.

This is finals week for my Summer term, so I'll probably update one more time tonight or tomorrow, and then I'll concentrate of catching up on my painting. More later.

~Muninn

Day 15: Swordmaster of Hoeth

I liked the Island of Blood box when it came out, but I didn't have much reason to buy it since I didn't collect Elves or Skaven, and I didn't really play WFB. I picked up a few minis here & there from bits websites, like the Elf Mage & Skaven Warlord. They look great & are cheap on bits orders ($2-3 usually), but the units, like the Swordmasters & Seaguard, have to be bought as entire blocks ($18 & $20 respectively), so I don't want to make that kind of investment on minis I don't have any need for.
Although it turns out that a local guy went to my FLGS & turned in a group of elves on consignment, so was able to pick up a few minis for fun. Here's the scheme I came up with.

My idea for a High Elf force would be a sea-green scheme with green-shaded silver armor. The hair and cloth were done by basing with Orkhide Flesh, a wash of Biel Tan Green, then layering up to Warpstone Green, Sybarite Green, and then a final highlight of Sybarite with White Scar. I like the color a great deal. I wasn't sure what to do for the gems & sash, but I knew I wanted it to pop, so I gave orange a shot, and I think it works well.

I'm on vacation until Sunday, but I brought all of my painting & photo gear with me, so I hope to be able to keep updating while I'm abroad (across the state really). I hope to have more tomorrow.

~Muninn

Day 14: Ghoul King

During my last term of college I was struggling through some of my classes, I was going to be late, and waking up early, sometimes 3-4 hours a night. I had to do what I could to keep awake during class, and mini hunting helped keep me alert. Long story short, I spent a fair amount of time trolling eBay for bits.

One of my finds was this guy, the Ghoul King from the Terrorgheist model, although I went a slightly different direction with him.

I wanted it lo look particularly unnatural, so I started with a white prime, then a base coat of Palid Witchflesh, followed by a wash of mix of Lich Purple, Palid Witchflesh with Lahmian Medium to make it spread properly. Then I layered it back up to Palid Witchflesh/White Scar mix. The damaged areas are just given a little Baal Red wash. I might've gone a little heavy with it in areas like the right thigh.

This was mostly an experiment, and I'm not sure how successful it was, but hey, it's another mini down.

~Muninn

Day 12 & 13: Beastman Gor & Bretonnian Archer

Today is the start of Fantasy week. I've never really played the game, but I've collected plenty of minis over the years, so there'll be a variety this week.

Ever since I saw a fully painted army of beastmen in the Perth Australia GW I've had a soft spot for the bray herd. I snagged this mini from a Navy roommate about a decade ago, and he'd been sitting unbuilt, & unpainted ever since.

He's painted almost entirely with two colors. The skin and fur only use Stormvermin Fur & Palid Witchflesh, but they differed with washes (Nuln Oil for the skin & Agrax Earthshade for the fur). I kept it very earthy to emphasize the bestiality. I picked up a Bestigor mini a little while ago, and I look forward to working on him in the future.

Tuesday's mini is an Bretonnian* bowman from the old 5th edition Brettonaisn vs Lizardmen* box set. Old, one-piece minis like this usually have difficulties in the faces. With this mini the left eye didn't look right at all, so I modeled a little eyepatch for him.




















 I gave him a quartered white & blue outfit since it's a nice clean scheme. He's probably too clean, actually. Any peasant that clean would be pretty suspicious. More tomorrow.

~Muninn

*Corrected because I originally thought it was an Empire archer from the 6th ed Orcs vs Empire box

Day 4: HeroQuest Fimir

Back in the 80's Graeme Davis and Jess Goodwin were attempting to create an army race unique Games Workshop, and they created the Fimir (based on the Celtic Fomorians). They're amphibian, weird, and have a really dark background.

GW oroginally planned on expanding them into an army, but according to wikipedia GW was worried their Grimdark backstory might turn off potential players, so they decided to axe them (apparently this was before retconning was in fashion).

Either way, there weren't a lot of Fimir miniatures made, and they're probably best known from HeroQuest.

This guy (all warrior Fimir are male) was picked up from the same friend who gave me the HeroQuest Elf years ago. I chose to go for a olive green skin, so I started with a mix of Thraka Green & Dark Angels Green, building up to a mix of Goblin Green and Catachan Green (I gotta use my old paint before they dry up). Finally, I mixed up to final last layer of Nurgling Green and a wash of Athonian Camoshade. The brass comes from an initial layer of Warplock Bronze, followed by a layer of Balthasar Gold. I then give it a wash of old inks (watered down black and chestnut ink), then layers of Runelord Brass and Mithral Silver.

The green & brass balance fairly well, and I feel supports the whole Celtic vibe. He's simple, but I like it.

~Muninn

Day 2: Dreadfleet Sea Giant

I wasn't terribly interested in Dreadfleet when it came out a few years back. It looked pretty slick, but despite having been in the Navy ship-based strategy games have never appealed to me. It did have some interesting sculpts though.

A few years back I was on a conversion kick, and troll bits websites for cheap or easily converted minis. It's where I got my $8 Ethereal's body, Amber Mage, most of the terrain I add to bases, and several weapons for swapping. 

I'd also noticed they offered Dreadfleet bits. While I wasn't going to spend $9-14 on a ship I'd never have any practical use for, I did notice the Sea Giant was a paltry $2.70, and it was about the right size for a regular D&D miniature, so why not?

I wasn't sure what direction to take the miniature other than watery. I started by wet-blending areas of Incubi Darkness with Warpstone Green to create a shifting palette, then worked up to Sybarite Green, and a final highlight of Sybarite Green/White Scar mix. Finally I hit the entire thing with a wash of Biel Tan Green/Asurman Blue mix. I think it gives it a fairly nice liquid look.

The bones were basecoated in XV-88, then added layers of XV-88 with Nurgling Flesh to add a greenish color, then white to that mix then i gave it a final highlight of bleached bone.

Now all I have to do is find a good encounter to use it in. More specialist games tomorrow.

~Muninn

Day 1: Blood Bowl Kroxigor

Welcome to the first day of the  Month 'o' Minis Challenge. This year the goal is to paint all Games Workshop minis, and these first four days will be dedicated to a few specialist/board games. Here's the first.

About a decade ago Games Workshop came up with a novel way of encouraging people to subscribe to White Dwarf. They'd send you a box of minis that'd (mostly) line up with your army. I'd been buying magazines off the rack at the time, so I figured I'd give it a go. I ordered & the nice customer service person asked me what armies I liked.

I told her Space Marines (Raven Guard) and Tau.

I received Space Wolf scouts, Battlefleet Gothic Raiders, 2nd edition Plague Marines, and a Blood Bowl Kroxigor.

Spot on GW. Spot on.

Anyhoo. I've had this guy ever since. I don't play Blood Bowl, but this month's challenge seemed like a good opportunity to take him out of his box.

I live in Oregon, and we don't have a profession (American) football team of our own. Most Oregonians, therefore, are divided between the next closest teams: the Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers. I'm fond of Seattle myself, so that's how I painted him up.

I think it's a striking color scheme, and relatively simple to do. The blue was Necron Abyss through Mordian Blue, with Fenrisian Grey highlights (& "scale spots"), and a blue wash. The scales are a base of Warpstone Green mixed with Striking Scorpion, then a mid layer Striking Scorpion, then dots of Striking Scorpion and Badmoon Yellow. I wanted the grey to be warmer, so it started with a base of Mechanicus Grey worked up through Pallid Witch Flesh.

If I ever ended up painting a team, I'd probably continue this style.

One day down. More tomorrow.

~Muninn

More Age of Sigmar leaks

   There are a whole lot of new shots from the upcoming White Dwarf, but more important than the pictures is the fact this White Dwarf will come with a sample miniature from the upcoming Age of Sigmar box. The last time I remember them doing this was when Assault on Black Reach came out... Wow, I'm old. 

Either way, it looks like it's a Stormcast Eternal trooper. I'm getting one for the heck of it. If I can get it all prepped & ready I might even paint it for my challenge next month.

The rest appear to be straight out of the White Dwarf itself. 

I'm not sure what this guy's deal is, but it makes me wonder if this is how everybody looks under their helmets. It could explain why they're called eternals.

~Muninn

Half-Orc Eldritch Knight (or Spellblade)

Two days ago I got my much anticipated reward from the Stonehaven Half-Orc Adventurers kickstarter. I'm not loaded with cash, so I chose the cheaper "Party of Five" option, with one add-on. (I chose the Spellblade, Bard, Half-Dragon Duelist, Barbarian, Nobleman, & the Halfling-sized Wizard).

It's been a while since I actually complete a miniature, and I'm about to start My month-o-minis in a few days so I thought I'd get a little practice in to knock some of the rust off my brush skills. I started with the Spellblade since I like the look of her, & in the new edition of D&D the Half-Orc/Eldritch Knight combo would be a pretty potent combination.  I think she turned out pretty well.

The crimson paint on the coat is a little thick since I'd originally started painting it blue to look kinda like Master Holt from Warmachine, but I realized it might muddle the greenish skin-tone, so I opted for a more complimentary color. I considered making the sword glow, but I wanted to get it done quickly. Looking at it now I think I could stand for a bit more highlight on the khaki coat since it reads a little flat to me. Something to do later tonight I suppose.

~Muninn

A New Shots of Sigmarites & Chaos

Just a quick update on leaked shots. We have three more images this morning. One showing what I assume is the White Dwarf cover, a second giving better detail on a Sigmarite trooper and a Chaos guy (I think he's a beast handler of some sort), and a third shot of how the Sigmarite minis snap together.

The thing I'm looking forward to seeing the most is a clear detail shot of those winged units. I'm pretty excited about them & I'm definitely eyeballing them for a Saint Celestine conversion.

~Muninn

Leaked Shots of Age of Sigmar

This morning I woke ups to some fun leaks. (plus some great news)

It looks like Age of Sigmar has some new shots from an upcomgin White Dwarf, and it's pretty cool.

These shots appear to be from the Age of Sigmar box set. I'd read the box set contents the other day, but wasn't really prepared for new, drastically different sculpts. I suppose the Chaos units look like things we've seen before, but I wasn't expecting these kind of minis from the Empire.

 and let me be the first to say that it is unfair how cool the Empire minis look. I mean really: Golden-armored knights flanked by flying warriors (expect to see some Custodes conversions from these guys)? I felt a great disturbance, as if millions of wallets suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.

~Muninn