Adeptus Malaysia

VIDEO- Prigs in Space

2012-01-29T18:18:00.000+08:00

Disclaimer- this has nothing to do with miniatures! However, as I've gotten more and more into using video to promote my hobby (as well as Legio Malaysia's), I figured I'd post a quick one up here.

I'm entering a contest to win a copy of the HitFilm Ultimate software package with a 2 minute sci-fi comedy short called "Prigs in Space". My brother wrote and voice acted the fantastic dialogue, and I created all of the visual effects and the video itself. If you take a look and like it, I'd really appreciate your comments and a "Like" click on there. Every little bit helps!

Learning More Video Skills

2012-01-26T22:19:00.000+08:00

The last week or so of hobby time has primarily been spent getting ready to start a fairly involved video project with my good friend Khairul from The Wild Host. It's going to take the better part of three months of my hobby time, but if it all works like we're imagining I think the results are going to be pretty sweet. As part of that project, I've recently picked up Hitfilm special effects and 3d compositing software. It's quite a bit cheaper than other popular offerings out there like After Effects, especially when you go for the standard edition as I've done. This, in combination with Sony Vegas, should allow us to up the production value of our work and make the upcoming videos better than past efforts like the Ghemehaal campaign.

In addition, I've also decided for this project to switch from Avenging Sons Space Marines to Orks. I think they'll make a great subject, and has the additional benefit of being a natural foe for Khairul's upcoming Silver Skulls Space Marine project. I've never painted a complete Ork army, so this should be cool. I've come up with an airbrushed & inked scheme for their green skin, and should allow me to finish a test model before I head off to the US next week.

Well, I'm going to get back to my first learning project!

Biermeyer's SS Panzer IVH Platoon DONE

2012-01-12T22:07:00.001+08:00

Quick but satisfying post tonight, folks. I've just finished this Panzer IVH Platoon, along with 2 Jagdpanzer IV tank hunters, which means my 3rd SS Panzerkompanie is DONE! Woo hoo! I've got two fully painted Flames of War armies completely finished. The Americans I blitzed through, but I've been working on my SS off and on for over a year. Looking back on this blog the first SS post I made was way back in May of 2010. Yowsah!

Regardless, this means I've got a late war army for both sides now. Much happiness! Sometime in March or April I'm going to bust out a Soviet tank army for our upcoming Bagration campaign on May 5th. That will be sweet. BTW, if you dig the paint job, check out the video below. I did it quite some time ago when we were first launching the Flames of War YouTube channel. The paint job I show in this video is pretty much the same thing I did here

In the meantime, it's back to 28mm for an upcoming event. Gameforge in Penang is running a Warhammer "Border Patrol" 500 point tournament. I had a ball at the last tournament they ran, so I'm going to finally start painting my Beastmen army to play with a brand new army in the tourney.

I'm going to try doing this army with "the dip", in this case Minwax 'Golden Oak'. I basecoated and dipped one Minotaur yesterday, but it's still a bit tacky this evening so it's not yet ready for the matte varnish and finishing up details. I'll post a pic of him this weekend for your perusal. He's more or less a test model, but so far I'm reasonably pleased with him. Until next time...

My First Experience With "3D Printing"

2012-01-09T00:33:00.000+08:00

Bummer.

That's the first thing that came across my mind after getting the miniature painted up to this point. Sadly, it's a disappointing conclusion to my first experience with 3d printing that was in every other way phenomenal. Let me tell you all about it.

I've heard for a while now about outfits that use 3d printing / rapid prototyping technology. I've seen pics before that looked pretty good, so I thought I'd jump into the fray. In my first test model for this army, I used a mask to generate the Avenging Sons chapter icon. The results are fine, but ideally I want raised icons on the shoulder pads. They look damn sexy and add interest- I think most Space Marine hobbyists would agree on this point. I felt out a friend for some sculpting help, but he's pretty slammed and hasn't been able to help me thus far. My putty skills are improving, but I was a little leery trying it out myself. So, while checking out the 3d printing thing I stumbled across a blog post that referred to an outfit called "Shapeways".

They're basically a "Cafepress" type business- you upload your design, and they manufacture on demand. After checking out a bunch of 40k goodies on the site I came across the virtual store front of user "Dynath", called Dynath40K. He's got a bunch of great looking stuff there, and in his blurb he suggests folks send him a PM if they have a particular design in mind. So, I dropped him a line and explained all about my Avenging Sons project and what I wanted done, along with a quote request for how much the design would cost me.

He promptly replied in less than a day, saying he'd be happy to do it at no cost, and proceeded to put up exactly what I asked for- a plain Avenging Sons pad, one with laurels, and one with laurels and a cool "Duty, Honor, Vengeance" pauldron extension thingamabob. The designs are SWEET. I was thrilled, and ordered a full set of everything along with some of his existing shoulder pads for Tactical, Assault, and Devastator squads. Shipping was a but pricey, so rather than order in bits and pieces I did the whole thing at once (cue the foreboding music of a bad decision's looming consequences).

When you order your bits, you have to choose a printing material/resolution. The default one is called "White Strong and Flexible". Ten pads made of this material is priced at 3.81 euros, which is about RM 1.52 or USD 0.48 per pad. The highest resolution listed as "Frosted Ultra Detail" comes out to 8.75 euros per 10, which is about USD 1.11 or RM 3.50 per pad. Not thinking it would make a huge difference, I ordered the default "White Strong and Flexible", with the sandy/gritty results pictured in these two pics. These are not usable shoulder pads.

I blame myself for this- I should've asked around more, and made a small test order first to see the resolution. Dynath was a CHAMP, getting those designs done so fast, just like I wanted them in record time. I highly recommend his customer service to anyone looking for that special doohickey for their 40K army. In the meantime, maybe I can use these for a Taros PDF Imperial Guard or Tau force to decorate bases, and let the texture represent corrosion or dust. They will definitely not work for my finished army.

So, what to do next? I think I'll try out one pack of "Frosted Ultra Detail" and see how that works out. If it is reasonably smooth, I'd be fine ordering another set and calling the first one a learning experience. If they don't I've got to go back to begging for sculpting help, or spending some serious time taking a whack at doing it myself. More to come on that front.

Other than that, I'm ready to kick this project off with some serious assembly work. After reading "Brothers of the Snake", I really liked something the Iron Snakes squads do with the "shoulder banners". Rather than having the squad sergeant bearing it like they did back in the day, for the Iron Snakes one member of the squad is a standard bearer and bears it instead. I'm taking that concept and using it for my Avenging Sons. You don't see those banners get used much anymore, and it would be cool to try out some free hand icon painting with laurels, scrolls, and the like. This test next model will have that very thing...

M10 Tank Destroyer Platoon DONE

2012-01-04T23:24:00.000+08:00

At last, my 1500 point American Flames of War army is DONE! Well, pretty much. I could certainly play with the models as is for a 1500 point match and be completely rep/painted. However, like I mentioned in a previous post, I really need to do up some LMG bases to take advantage of the "Dismounted MGs" American special rule. So, I'll do those tomorrow. Tonight, however, it's all good. After getting those pesky MGs done tomorrow, I'll be able to move on to my next project of the 40K variety. Stay tuned for my next post- I've got some new fangled "3D printed" goodies to show you guys....

M8 Scott Platoon DONE

2012-01-03T21:30:00.001+08:00

Nothing crazy on the paintjob here- just the same utilitarian scheme I used for my Shermans and half tracks. I also finished the carbine teams for the M10 platoon (not pictured). The plan for tomorrow is to finish the M10 Platoon completely, and then wrap things up on Thursday evening with some LMG and .50 cal teams to take advantage of the "Dismounted MGs" rule the Americans enjoy. I should've done it earlier, but I only noticed the rule last Friday afternoon. Argh.

Happy New Year and "Da Plan" for 2012

2012-01-03T00:08:00.000+08:00

Happy New Year Everyone!

Like many of you, I've reflected over the last year and thought about what got done and what didn't. Hobby wise it was a solid year for me- nothing spectacular but nothing to be ashamed of either. After cleaning up and taking a pic of my hobby work area, I thought I'd share some of my favorite things from last year that I covered on AM (in no particular order):

1. 40K Death Korps of Krieg

2011 was the year I FINALLY got off my ass and made some serious progress getting the army painted. I took a completely different approach from my "ultra clean" paint jobs of the past and went for weathering and toned down highlighting. I'm really happy with what's done this far, especially the vehicles.

2. Flames of War American Armored Rifle Company

The first 1000 points was only finished a few days ago, and I'll have the remaining 500 points done within the next couple of days. I would've finished them over this weekend, but it was cleaning/organizing time (see above!) It's been a while since I got motivated to paint the little men, and our club's ongoing Market Garden campaign was just the ticket. Considering how quickly it's come together, I'm really happy with it.

3. Video Editing Learned

While I'm no pro, I've learned a lot about editing videos and giving them a little production value. Our recent "Ghemehaal: Annihilation" 40K campaign featured video recaps that people seemed to like, though I'm embarrassed to say I haven't finished them all as of yet. Midway through I had severe computer problems, and since the campaign finished I've just run out of gas getting the last two done. However, if you haven't seen them yet take a quick look. You might dig it!

I also produced the first painting videos for Battlefront Miniatures, featuring a variety of stuff including tanks, terrain, and even a helicopter. I had a lot of fun doing them and helping launch the official Flames of War YouTube channel, and I'm sure one of these days I'll make some more painting vids for them.

So, what's the plan for next year? In broad strokes, here's what I'd like to get done:

1. Death Korps of Krieg

Completing this army will be the highest overall priority for the year. Come the end of December, this army will be done to at least 2000 points in additional to at least one superheavy tank (hopefully more).

2. Pre Heresy Word Bearers

I got a start on this almost a year ago, and I still want to do this. My meager sculpting skills have been improving, and I'm happy with the shoulder pads and purity seals I've done for the test models. Ideally I'll get a few local guys into this, and we'll do some kind of Great Crusade campaign. Cross your fingers...

3. More Visits to the Singapore Hobby Scene

There should be a tournament in March and SPORECon sometime in May or June, and I really need to get to both. The Singapore crew have been coming up to Legio Malaysia tournaments since we started them four years ago, and I'm ashamed to admit I haven't been down to a single Singapore tournament. I'm not huge on the tourney scene, but a social visit coupled with some dice rolling sounds pretty good to me. I gotta make this happen.

4. Get Into One New Game

Infinity? Mercs? Malifaux? All of those and many more have their charms, and I want to get into one of them this year. Suggestions, esp. the local guys?

I've got a couple other ideas, including Beastmen, Angels of Redemption, and some other madness, but these first four are the ones I really want to focus on. I'd love to hear any hobby resolutions you might have in the comments. I hope everyone reading this has a fantastic 2012- healthy, happy, and lots of boogie hobby. See you in a day or two with an M10 and M8 American update...

1000 Points in Ten Days- Yippee!!

2011-12-29T23:40:00.000+08:00

It's been a while since I went on such a hobby tear- probably the Iyanden Eldar army I painted comes the closest to so much assembled and painted in such a short period of time. While I'm not going to win any painting awards with this introductory force, the nice urban rubble bases from Battlefront make up for a multitude of sins! This weekend I'll get a full M10 Tank Destroyer Platoon done, along with an Assault Gun platoon of three M8 Scott tanks. That will get me close enough to 1500 points. If that works, I'll finish the army next week with a full battery of M12 155mm GMC SP artillery pieces. That will give me exactly 1750 points for the army, and should make a nice finish (at least for the time being).

Tomorrow's Turn 2 of our Market Garden campaign. This time, I get to play with MY OWN army.

Nice.

Good Progress Tonight

2011-12-28T23:05:00.002+08:00

I didn't get anything done yesterday- I was just too tired. However I killed it today and got 12 bases fully painted. I'll get the rest of the platoon finished tomorrow for sure!

Holiday Progress: FoW Armored Rifle Company

2011-12-27T00:10:00.000+08:00

Well, the army's not done yet, but a mighty blow has been struck towards that end. Over the weekend I completely finished one of my Armored Rifle Platoons, including all the half tracks. All that remains now is one more platoon and I've got a fully painted 1000 point force. I have no doubt I'll get this done before Friday's Turn 2 of Market Garden. The question is whether I can get a Tank Destroyer Platoon and something else painted to get me up to 1500 (at least). I'll give it crack! Happy Holidays everyone- I hope your own projects are coming along like you want them to. I'll leave you here with a couple of shots of my completed platoon. Huzzah!!

Crash Project: FAIL!

2011-12-22T23:20:00.000+08:00

Ah well, I didn't make it.

I knew the chances of getting it done were slim to none, but I can honestly say I gave it a shot. Over the course of four after work evenings, I got the following done:

ASSEMBLED & PRIMED

2x Full Armored Rifle Platoons

In addition, I got all the vehicles basecoated with my airbrush.

COMPLETELY FINISHED

Armored Rifle Company Command HQ, including additional Bazooka Team

Platoon of 4x M4A1 Sherman tanks

Between the assembled and finished models, this is the entire initial 1000 point force. All things considered, it's not a bad effort at all. I've got some models I can borrow for tomorrow's Market Garden launch, and I think with a holiday weekend's effort I can get the remainder of my first 1000 points knocked out. I'm thinking of a Priest battery and a recon section to round out 1500 points.

Until next time...

Crash Project: American Armored Rifle Company

2011-12-21T00:18:00.002+08:00

Hours away from finishing my SS Panzerkompanie, we found out that two out of the three Allied players we believed were going to play the Market Garden campaign have pulled out. This leaves us 4 German players and one Allied player for the campaign starting this Friday. So, I thought I'd go nuts and try to build and paint a 1000 point Armored Rifle Company in time for the campaign and switch sides.... yowsah.

In the last two days I've made more progress than I would have guessed. I've built all 11 half tracks I need, as well as 4 Shermans. I've also put together the HQ and the first platoon in full, leaving only second platoon to complete assembly. I used Battlefront's relatively new rubble plastic bases to help speed up assembly- they are a lifesaver.

The test paint job above has almost no highlighting on the figures other than black lining. I think it looks fine for the battlefield, and it's relatively quick. Here's the recipe:

1- Glue the figures into the base with enough super glue to get pushed up and fill the gaps/spill over a bit. Finely ground shale was sprinkled over all the super glue areas

2- Stand was primed with Vallejo Black Primer shot from my airbrush

3- Entire base was drybrushed with VMC London Grey
4- Medium drybrush with VMC Medium Sea Grey
5- Patches were heavily drybrushed with VMC Flat Brown
6- Brown patches medium drybrush VMC Beige Brown
7- Entire base lightly drybrushed with VMC Iraqi Sand
8- Pants and webbing painted US Dark Green
9- Jackets and anklets painted VMC Khaki
10- Boots painted VMC Flat Brown
11- Flesh painted VMC Light Brown and drybrushed with VMC Flat Flesh
12- Helmet, shell, and bazooka painted VMC Brown Violet
13- 2d Armored Div patch painted with VMC Deep Yellow, Flat Red, and Dark Blue. Khaki used to trim it up into a rough triangle shape.
14- Separate brick wall and loose bricks on the base painted VMC Cavalry Brown and glued into base.
15- Bricks and wall washed with Vallejo Pale Grey Wash.
16- Base edges painted VMC Beige Brown

It sounds like a lot, and maybe it is, but that's about as simple as I can make it other than the patch madness. What can I say, I'm not going to let Khairul get away with those eagles without a fight! ;)

It'll be a miracle if I get this done in time, but I'll go down fighting....

Apoxie Sculpt Available Locally

2011-12-12T15:30:00.001+08:00

This is the first time I've seen this around here, so I thought I'd give folks a heads up. I found this very nice selection at Craft Haven, a shop at 1 Utama. It's good stuff for a variety of hobby uses, so check it out sometime...

SS Panzerkompanie WIP

2011-12-08T23:31:00.000+08:00

Had a productive night tonight, with priming and camo basecoat for the last part of my army. This is Biermeyer's Panzer IVH Platoon from the new "Grey Wolf" Eastern Front compilation, along with an SS Tank Hunter Platoon consisting of two Jagdpanzer IV/70 tracks. I've still got a ways to go, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel for the campaign we're starting in a few weeks... Huzzah!

Avenging Sons Rhino COMPLETE

2011-12-05T00:27:00.000+08:00

I figured I'd do a vehicle "test model" for the next thing, and I'm even happier with this than I am with the veteran I painted earlier. I think the bright scheme really pops, especially with the weathering. The Avenging Sons chapter symbol was done with green stuff. I cut a template from thick card stock, and then used heat activated mold material that Cool Mini Or Not sells to make a press mold. I did one for a vehicle sized one like this, as well as one that would work for a shoulder pad or small icon. The first attempt here could be crisper, but overall I'm really pleased with it and plan to continue.

The black sections of the Rhino mark it as 5th company, 1st Tactical Squad. Here's a few more pics- thanks for checking it out!

Avenging Sons Veteran COMPLETE

2011-11-29T23:42:00.000+08:00

Well, with these pics I think this project is official! I love the paint scheme, it's something new, and it works will with the dark muted city rubble base. Up next, I'm going to paint a Land Speeder Storm that's been on my shelf since I bought it the week it came out. It needs a paint job, and it may as well be Avenging Sons!

Thanks for checking it out- C&C most welcome folks...

More Avenging Sons Progress (WIP)

2011-11-24T23:38:00.002+08:00

After writing the script for the Turn 5 update of the Ghemehaal: Annilation series of videos, I went back to my test model for the Avenging Sons. Last night after my blog post I sprayed a gloss varnish on the model (Future floor polish through my airbrush), then applied cobalt blue oil washes along all the detail areas.

Today I did the cleanup of those washes with a brush and some mineral spirits, and then highlighted the blue with a 50/50 mix of VGC Electric Blue and White. I think I'll highlight one more time, very lightly, with pure white. It should pop nicely with that. For the first time I tried a bit of weathering with some scattered "chips" of VMC German Grey, highlighted underneath with the same 50/50 blue mix.

I painted the eyes, completed assembly, blacked out areas that will be black or metallic, and then sprayed VMA Matte Varnish on the model. I attached him to the base and called a night. I love the contrast between the base and the model- they really pop, and it will even more when I do the final white highlights and finish the remaining detail. I think this project is starting to get legs...

Avenging Sons Test Model WIP

2011-11-23T21:51:00.003+08:00

Now, before you say something along the lines of, "What about your Krieg, videos, etc...?". I know. I know! I just can't help myself, and I've had this idea in the back of my hobby brain since the Forge World Taros Campaign book came out. I can't help but think that light blue marines on cityfight rubble bases would look SWEET! Tonight I used a mask I cut for myself for the cross crosslet chapter icon, and airbrushed a basecoat of VGC Electric Blue (with a little Vallejo Thinner chucked in there for flow). I love it! I'm going to finish this test model, and make the call whether I'm going to go off the deep end and start painting Marines again.

What do you guys think? Potential, or no....?

VIDEO- 40K Campaign "Ghemehaal: Annihilation" Turn 4

2011-11-23T00:13:00.000+08:00

Video update/batrep for our 40K campaign- thanks in advance for checking it out!

I FINALLY Sorted the Video Editing Problem

2011-11-15T23:58:00.002+08:00

Apparently A LOT of Sony Vegas users have similar problems with "low memory" errors, and I was no different. Fortunately, I found a video tutorial that showed how to change the registry of Vegas to make it fully utilize ALL of the RAM my computer has. As soon as I did, the low memory errors stopped and I had no problem editing and rendering a very late Turn 3. Assuming all goes well, I'm going to put in hobby overtime this week and try to get Turns 4 and 5 done by Friday. Thanks for being patient campaign players! :)

VIDEO- 40K Campaign "Ghemehaal: Annihilation" Turn 2

2011-10-28T07:14:00.000+08:00

Today we'll be playing Turn 3 in the campaign, and here's our video update for all the Turn 2 action. Thanks for checking it out- comments and rates most welcome! :)

VIDEO- 40K Campaign "Ghemehaal: Annihilation" Turn 1

2011-10-23T23:06:00.000+08:00

We didn't completely finish Turn 1 until this past Friday evening, hence the Turn 1 update coming out a little later than we wanted. However, we completely finished Turn 2 as well, so we will have our scheduled Turn 2 update online this coming Friday. Thanks for following the campaign! If you haven't already, subscribe, comment, and rate our video. We sincerely appreciate your support for the campaign!

The Campaign Has Begun

2011-10-20T00:04:00.001+08:00

I've clearly not gotten enough Krieg painting done, but I have been hard at work learning more about working with video. We're going to try and do a weekly video update on this blog's YouTube channel, and tonight we've published an intro to the campaign:

We're learning as we go, and it's fun to work with this relatively new medium for me. Firestorm is a great system, and after only one turn we're having a blast. Once we get into the groove of things I'll start working on the Krieg again, but for now I've got my hands full running this campaign and chronicling the progress...

Starting to Grind Out Some Work

2011-10-05T22:20:00.000+08:00

Sorry no pic folks, but I did indeed get some paint on two Krieg vox-caster troopers, as well as a squad Watchmaster. With any luck, I'll get these three finished tomorrow evening. I stayed away from the devil video games today. This is good. I need to get some damn work done.

As many of you know I'm a huge fan of the band "Clutch". Here's a rare track that I found on YouTube today that I hadn't listened to in a while. I leave you tonight with "Apache"... enjoy.

Damn You Space Marine!

2011-09-27T21:50:00.000+08:00

It's been a LONG time since I've lost so much hobby time to video games. Deus Ex and Space Marine absolutely killed my Krieg progress over the last couple of weeks. Argh!

The good news is that I've basically played my fill of these for the time being, and FINALLY got back into the hobby room to stay for continued Krieg progress. Tonight I primed black 5 troopers, and sprayed their coats with the customary Vallejo Model Air Primer Grey. Good times.

While this endeavor isn't worth posting a pic, something I stumbled across today is. From the Warseer forums, a thread by the Australian hobbyist 'Sheep' prominently features a Death Korps army he's made a lot of progress with. He came up with a fantastic mortar team conversion doubtless inspired by the German Nebelwerfer from WWII. It's a fantastic conversion, and the autumn SS camo he's using looks great as well. Check this out:

I think this is some innovative and sexy hobby. If you'd like to see more, check out his massive Warseer thread. He's got some serious chops.

Well, I'm back on the wagon and have cast aside the devilish influence of video games! Let there be hobby!!

Death Korps of Krieg Deployed

2011-09-12T22:59:00.001+08:00

Last Friday we got together at Hobby Night and took a bunch of pics and some video for our upcoming "Ghemehaal: Annihilation" 40K campaign. I've never really done any kind of Corel/Photoshop stuff before, so I'm slowly learning how to manipulate images for publication. This is the first one I thought I'd post up. The more I do this the better I'm going to get at it.

In the meantime, I've actually gotten some real work done as well. I've assembled and based another full squad of Krieg troopers, and will start painting them after work tomorrow. Onwards!

Death Korps Leman Russ Tank DONE

2011-09-08T23:09:00.000+08:00

Woo hoo! I've added another tank to the army tonight- one step closer to being ready for next month's campaign. Nothing too crazy/unique with this paint job, just more of the same I've been doing up to this point.

Up next is another Krieg infantry squad, followed by their Chimera transport. Until then, thanks for checking in!

Platoon Command Chimera DONE

2011-09-04T23:30:00.001+08:00

Well, I've spent a full week on vacation, mostly watching movies and playing the hell out of Deus Ex: Human Revolution. AWESOME game. What else can I say?

However, the week was not a complete hobby loss. While I did indeed expect to get more done than this Chimera, it is still done and that's cool. I'm happy with how the turret marking came out- the '1' is a stencil and the command laurels around it I painted freehand. Really pleased with the overall look :)

Up next is a Leman Russ! Until next time, thanks for checking this out and for your comments...

Krieg Platoon Command Chimera Started

2011-08-25T22:31:00.000+08:00

Considering I only hobbied for about two hours tonight, I got some reasonably good progress done:

1. Vallejo Grey Surface Primer

2. Tamiya Desert Yellow basecoat

3. Vallejo Model Air German Grey camo pattern

4. Future floor polish gloss finish

5. Masked off and sprayed black stripes

6. Masked off and sprayed white company and platoon command mark

The turret "1" in white was intentionally positioned slightly up from center to give me room to paint laurels underneath it. Unlike the rest of the platoon where turret number shows the squad, this "1 with a laurel" will show 1st Platoon command.

I don't see any reason why I shouldn't be able to get this done tomorrow except one: Deus Ex comes out tomorrow. I'm a big fan of the original and the remake seems to be seriously badass. I might lose a couple days Xboxing away with this new game.

Either way, this Chimera is well on its way to being done...

Krieg Platoon Command Squad Done

2011-08-24T22:56:00.000+08:00

Finally, I've finished the squad. I got distracted, and the banner took longer than I expected (and I'm still not entirely happy with it!). Nonetheless, I'm trying to paint an army here, so I'm going to call this done. They'll look just fine on the table.

In other Krieg news, once I've finished this first 1750 points, I will be painting a plastic Baneblade kit for the army. This was a gift from my boss back when this kit was brand new- about damn time it gets done!

Today Soo Jinn, a good friend and mentor of mine here, gave me some Krieg mortars as a gift. Thanks dude! In addition, for a hefty discount, he also passed to me this:

For those of you who don't know, this is a Macharius super-heavy tank, armed with the devastating Vulcan Mega-Bolter. It is a truly badass resin kit, and I've now got a brand new one. This will get built and painted in the same desert camo by the time Ghemehaal: Annihilation rolls around to the final Apocalypse battle. I can't wait! Soo Jinn, thanks once again for the hook up. You truly are the man! Folks, this dude is a hobby nutter. If you've never checked out his blog, I highly recommend you do so by following this link. The dude is a rockstar!

That's it for tonight, folks. Tomorrow I'll get started on painting the platoon command's Chimera transport. With any luck, that should only take a couple of days. After that, it'll be painting a Leman Russ, and from there another infantry squad. Gotta push this thing- only five weeks left! :O

Krieg Platoon Command Autocannon Team Done

2011-08-17T23:48:00.000+08:00

Didn't get the squad done today, but at least I got the autocannon team finished. All that remains is the vox caster and standard bearer. Maybe with some luck I'll get them done before the weekend...? Gotta work faster.

Death Korps of Krieg Lieutenant Complete

2011-08-16T23:35:00.000+08:00

I'm going to have to start hobbying/painting A LOT faster if I'm going to get this army done for the October campaign, but at least it's SOME progress.

I tried using GF9 Super Fine Basing Grit, a new product. It's nice, but I think for desert I prefer the finer texture of play sand for the bases. So, this command squad will the only squad that gets this grit.

Nothing else to report tonight folks. Tomorrow is a public holiday, and my battle plan is to finish painting the platoon command section. Wish me luck! :)

Churchill Tutorial Video "In the Can"

2011-08-11T11:19:00.001+08:00

Last night I completed shooting and narrating the video, and I think this is one of the best ones yet. I completely changed equipment, lightning, camera angle, and shot composition to get a new look that I like quite a bit. Once the video guys at the NZ studio "do their thing", this video should be posted to Battlefront TV.

Now, it's back to Krieg! :)

Here's the final version, published on Battlefront TV. Before you ask, I have no idea why they added that black border around the edge... maybe it's a Kiwi thing ;)

Death Korps of Krieg Platoon Command Started

2011-07-28T22:27:00.002+08:00

I haven't been hittin' the hobby too hard the last couple of days- I blame Red Faction: Revolution and the need to run excessive errands in mad Malaysian traffic. Nonetheless, progress continues with the noble men of Krieg:

The squad is basically assembled- painting will start this weekend for sure. I've also got a Churchill video to do for early next week. I assembled that tonight as well. With any luck I'll have both fully painted and sexy by the end of next week, and well into the platoon command Chimera.

I hope your hobby endeavors are kicking much butt- take a moment and tell me all about it in the comments. Until this weekend, may the hobby gods favor you all...

Death Korps of Krieg Engineer Squad COMPLETE

2011-07-25T01:12:00.000+08:00

Woo hoo!

After I finished their Chimera transport on Sunday, I decided to keep going and try to knock out the remaining five members of the squad undone. That consisted of the Watchmaster, Vox Operator, Engineer with Demo Charge, and two standard Engineers.

The Watchmaster

This was a simple conversion- no fancy tricks or anything like that. I just used a pair of arms from the Krieg Officer Upgrade pack to hook him up with a power weapon. He turned out decent enough...

The Vox Operator

This was my favorite one to build, without a doubt. I took a regular Engineer and added a Krieg Vox Caster from their equipment pack. It comes with a vox caster (duh), as well as a little microphone doo-hickey that attaches to the left side of his helmet. I didn't realize what the tiny bit was until I checked the Forge World site and closely examined the Command Squad vox operator. While I was doing that, I noticed that there is a cable that's supposed to run from the vox caster to his helmet, and then another one from his helmet to the gas mask. Since these cable weren't included, I went ahead and rolled some really thin sausages of green stuff and made my own cables pictured above. They turned out decent enough. I'm certainly happy with the final results- the antenna is a bristle from a plastic broom

Demo Charge Engineer

This one was pretty easy, too. I shaved away a bit of material from each of his back mounted gas filters until the demo charge would snugly fit in there.

The Last Two

No conversions necessary on these- regular ol' Engineers to round out the squad.

So, the entire squad AND their transport is done- HUZZAH! Up next I've got to do another Battlefront vid- I'll have that squared away by mid week. Once that's done, it's time to build and paint the infantry platoon Command Squad. I'm really looking forward to that one!

I'll leave you tonight with a shot of all three vehicles finished thus far- good night and thanks for checking this out....

Death Korps of Krieg Engineer Chimera COMPLETE

2011-07-23T17:29:00.000+08:00

Whew! This one was quite a bit more work than the first one, but it was well worth it. I'm happy with how it turned out. The scratch built assault ramps and the Forge World Mine Plough really do a nice job setting this theme for a badass Engineer squad. Without any further ado, here's the pics. Thanks for checking this out- comments most welcome!

More Engineer Chimera Progress

2011-07-20T23:52:00.000+08:00

First off, apologies for the "old school" poorly lit table pic. I had to take down my light tent/photo table to make way for a high speed internet installation today. I'll get it set up again later this week and get back to taking better pics. In the meantime, this will have to do.

I got a good amount of progress done- I think one more solid hobby session will see this thing done. I block painted UK Bronze Green on the top hatches and front left fender to identify it as an Engineer vehicle, and then masked them off for company markings. Turret got the "114" squad number courtesy of the DKOK Decal Sheet from Forge World.

I painted the tracks, and that was a pain. This is the last time I glue on tracks and then paint them. It's way easier (at least for me) to airbrush them seperately and then glue them on at th end.

I painted all the base colors for the assault ramps, and then glued them both to the hull. This way, they'll get the same chipping/dusting/etc at the rest of the track and "blend in" a bit. Right now they look quite disparate, but I'm sure with some weathering they'll look a lot better. Hazard stripe masking was a bit of a chore on these, but at least this is the only Chimera getting this kind of detail. Here's a close up- again, keep in mind I still have shading and weathering to do. I know it's quite bright right now...

The only thing now missing is the searchlight and heavy stubber- searchlight gets airbrushed and glued on first thing next session, and the stubber will go on dead last.

This is really coming along, and I think it's going to turn out great once it's finished. Maybe tomorrow....

Starting to Look Like an Engineer's Ride

2011-07-19T23:34:00.000+08:00

I REALLY like Forge World's Mine Plough- that thing looks seriously badass. Thus far I've only basecoated the camo on the vehicle, and have done hazard stripes on the lower part of the plough (sorry the pic's a bit blurry):

Obviously I've got a lot of work to do with washes, weathering, markings, etc. Still, it's looking good so far...

Engineer Chimera Progress

2011-07-17T23:47:00.000+08:00

Well, I've done all the detailing I'm going to do, so this week it's time to put some paint on it and get it done. The only thing missing from these pics is the Forge World Mine Plough I'm going to add to rep a dozer blade (but way cooler!)

I added some rivet detail all around, along with sculpted gas proof hoods for the port firing lasguns. Track detail in place of the usual ammo boxes, as detailed before as well. I drilled a hole in the side of the resin turret that will be the mounting point for my searchlight (not pictured). I added thin strips of plasticard on the 8 vision blocks for the passengers, as you can see is this photo:

The new Chimera actually has this detail done already, but the old one didn't. One minor bit I really like is here:

I bent up a piece of fret from a brass etch frame to use as a track section hanger, and added a chip of 1mm styrene rod on it to show where it's "bolted in". The track section I cut the cast outside track pins, drilled a 1mm hole though both sides, and then put in a proper track pin with 1mm styrene rod. I pinched this trick straight from the Medusa build in Forge World's Model Masterclass book- thanks guys!

Oh My!

2011-07-16T10:54:00.001+08:00

After all this time of little Salamanders love, ForgeWorld starts to really kick it off with shoulder pads, and now a Venerable Dreadnought and brass etched goodies. I'm going to resist, and stick with my Krieg.

Nonetheless, it's cool, and damn tempting.

Auster AOP Done

2011-07-13T23:18:00.000+08:00

Well, I've got the second video done and uploading to the Battlefront server as I type this. This is a nifty little blister, and it gave me a chance to use Silly Putty for hard edge camo. Should be a cool video after they work their production magic and post it on Battlefront TV...

One more to go, and then it's back to full time Death Korps!

VIDEO- Painting Desert Bases

2011-07-12T09:22:00.000+08:00

At last! After two days of failed attempts to upload this thing, I've finally gotten my first humble video done for the blog:

This video covers in detail how I base my Death Korps models, which are themed with a "rocky desert" idea. I had a lot of fun playing around with editing and painting the base (of course!), and this is basically the first trial run. Future vids will include more tutorials, future Legio Malaysia battle reports, campaign video newsletters, and other wacky stuff I'm sure we'll think of in the future. In the meantime enjoy, and I'd love to hear comments! :) If you liked the video, be sure to click the subscribe button so you'll be the first to see all of my future efforts.

Thanks for checking it out guys

PaK40 Nest Done

2011-07-07T23:21:00.000+08:00

Well, primary filming and photos are done for my latest video- huzzah! I'm really looking forward to seeing the finished product on this one. I changed the orientation of my webcam and my lights to try and get a better picture, and I think it's a bit better. The background isn't quite as "clean" as in previous videos, but I don't think that's such a big deal.

I love the resin nests you get in this box- it was a lot of fun to paint up, and I even added a couple of empty shell casings and an ammo crate for more interest. This boxed set comes out soon, and I think folks are gonna love it.

Good News and Bad News

2011-07-05T22:11:00.003+08:00

Bad news first- gotta take a break from the Death Korps! Just when I had some mojo going, another project has come along that requires my attention...

That's right, Battlefront has asked me to film another three videos, though this time the editing pros at Battlefront's New Zealand studio will be doing the intro, final tweaks, etc. So, it looks like my vids are getting the bling treatment, and a metal intro to boot! :) I do love doing the video thing, hence the "Good News" part of the equation. One of these days I really need to do some vids for my blog...

Be sure to visit Battlefront's Flames of War YouTube channel, and subscribe! Product reviews, new releases, and yes painting videos are all there with more being added all the time. Who knows, maybe you'll learn a new trick or two.

If I can manage it without too much hobby burnout, I'll keep slugging away at my Krieg Engineers and their soon-to-be kickass Chimera transport. After I finish the videos this month, I'll be right back on Krieg full time. Until, enjoy the upcoming 15mm madness- I know I do!

DKOK Engineer Chimera WIP

2011-06-30T07:27:00.000+08:00

Working on the track detail for the assault ramps here- since the bins will not be used I need to add detail there myself. Thin plasticard and a green stuff chip filled in nicely, methinks. This should paint up pretty good!

Golden Kris 2011 Entry Montage

2011-06-29T08:45:00.000+08:00

This past weekend our club held our annual "Golden Kris" painting competition, traditionally done as part of our birthday celebration. We've been a club now for three years (WOW), and we had a great time running a huge Apocalypse battle along with Golden Kris.

Here's a video montage of all the entries and winners this year. I was lucky enough to get my first Golden Kris this time around after falling a bit short last year. There were some great entries, particularly Carl's work, so I'm very flattered that the judge saw fit to make my Death Korps squad the winning entry.

Anyway, enjoy, and starting today or tomorrow latest I'll be covering the conversion, assembly, and painting of my Engineer Chimera....

Five Death Korps of Krieg Engineers DONE

2011-06-22T23:58:00.000+08:00

This took me a bit longer than expected, but there is a lot more cool detail on these minis than the standard trooper. I also spent far too much time over the last few days trying to verify all the HVTs in Mercenaries 2 ALIVE. Damn video games.

Anyway, here's some pics- hope you enjoy and thanks for checking in. Up next- the Engineer Chimera!

Death Korps of Krieg Engineers Progress

2011-06-16T22:31:00.001+08:00

I've managed to get in a few hours of painting over the last couple of days:

Painted gas masks and leggings VGC Extra Opaque Heavy Brown

Painted pants and gloves VGC Charred Brown

Painted belts, pouches, bags, and straps VGC Extra Opaque Heavy Sienna

Painted left shoulder pads Vallejo UK Bronze Green Primer. I did this to connect them with the Bane Wolf as part of the overall Engineering Korps.

Krak grenades and wire spool (pictured above) VGC Scarlett Red

Painted armor, knee pads, and helmets VMC German Grey.

That's it up to this point. I only have a few more areas to cover before doing the washes and a bit of highlighting. After that it's the bases and that will take care of the first five members of the squad. I'm waiting on an order from FW for the remaining five, so if I get these done and they still haven't shown, I'll go ahead and start in on the Engineer's Chimera.

I'll leave you with a couple more pics, showing my Engineer with Flamer conversion. The flamer is from the Elysian weapons pack, and the hose is from Dragonforge Design. Basic, I know, but it does get the job done. With any luck I'll get these guys finished before the weekend is over...

Getting Started with the Krieg Engineers

2011-06-14T23:33:00.000+08:00

Didn't get a whole lot of progress done unfortunately- I had "The Unit" playing on my PC as I worked, and ended up paying too much attention to the show and not to cranking out the models!

Tonight I got the following done:

Primed all five with my airbrush using Vallejo Black Primer. It's great stuff, ready to go out of the bottle with no dilution necessary. If you own an airbrush, you should really check their range out.

Airbrushed their coats with Vallejo Model Air Gray Primer

Painted hose fittings, gas mask respirators, as well as some metal detailing on the grenade launchers, krak grenades, and melta bombs with Vallejo Game Color Brassy Brass.

That, unfortunately, is it. Tomorrow I'll get a lot more done. Here's a couple of closeups of the work thus far:

Before I sign off for the evening, I'll show you a shot of something I'm working on for the Engineer's Chimera:

What you see here is a kit bashed light bridging "assault ramp"- the first of two that I'm going to make. This one will be done once I add some rivet detailing along the sides. These will hang along the sides of their Chimera in place of the stowage bins that normally occupy that space. I've got an old Chimera that has the stowage bins as separate bits- the current one doesn't offer that option.

I'm also strongly considering modeling up a trailer for the Chimera, believe it or not. I thought it might be cool to have something to carry pioneering equipment like mine sweepers, razor wire, explosives, etc. I could also put a big promethium tank in the trailer, and model some braided hose that is connected to the Chimera. Since I've got their Chimera (or will have) equipped with a hull mounted heavy flamer, it only makes sense to have a steady fuel supply, right? The trailer would be a kind of half British Crocodile trailer/half supply wagon. It looks good in my mind's eye, anyway. We'll see how it pans out.

See you guys tomorrow!

Death Korps of Krieg Bane Wolf DONE

2011-06-12T19:09:00.002+08:00

I got on a roll this weekend and managed to bust it out quick! I love this model, and I really think the pics on the GW site do not do it justice for the amount of cool detail that's present, particularly in the back.

I went with UK Bronze Green on the stripes to indicate the Chemical Korps. So, the markings show vehicle #1, 15th Company Chemical Korps. Black I'll keep with infantry.

Up next, my squad of Krieg Engineers aka Veterans (Demolitions). Should be a hoot! Until then, here's some more pics of the Bane Wolf. Thanks for checking them out- comments most welcome!

Death Korps of Krieg Bane Wolf Starts Tonight

2011-06-10T00:32:00.001+08:00

Tonight I've completed all the sub-assemblies for my Death Korps Bane Wolf. I mean, c'mon, why would I NOT include a chemical warfare option in my armored company list? I think it would just be wrong.

The reasons I've started this next after finishing the first Chimera are two fold:

1) Now that I've established the method to paint all of my vehicles, I want to do another one right away to cement it in my brain.

2) One of the forums I like to check out, The Serpent's Lair, runs monthly painting contests that are themed around choices from the force organization chart. For May, the theme was HQ. I entered my White Consuls Chaplain and got thoroughly trounced- you can check out the competition thread here. I want to take another crack at this contest with my Bane Wolf. June's theme is Fast Attack, and the Bane Wolf certainly qualifies for that.

So, over the coming days I'll post pics of my progress every day I work on it. With any luck, I'll get this done within a week and move on to an infantry squad. I was thinking perhaps trying out my Engineers... :)

Death Korps of Krieg Chimera COMPLETE!

2011-06-05T16:44:00.001+08:00

Huzzah! Considering this is the first 28mm scale vehicle that I've weathered, I'm really pleased with the results. Comments/criticism are welcome!

NOW We're Cookin'

2011-06-02T00:23:00.000+08:00

I like this option MUCH better for the unit identification. The black color is for 1st Platoon, and the "15" is for the 15th Armored Company. The "1" on the turret is for 1st Squad. I also made a stencil for the top hatch. Having markings to help prevent being strafed by friendly air power makes sense, but it also has the benefit of looking cool :)

Afterwards I gave each rivet a sepia wash, and then drybrushed the whole vehile in VGC Bonewhite. I'll do some paint chipping with a sponge, smoke on the exhausts and gun barrel, and finally some dust along the lower third of the hull. Oh and of course I'll paint and attach the tracks!

This should be done by Friday- cross your fingers!

More Chimera Progress

2011-05-26T23:26:00.000+08:00

Got some more progress done with my Chimera tonight. I got rid of the horrible white ID stripes without too much trouble. While I had the airbrush out, I went ahead and painted the searchlight. I'm pleased with the result- all I had to do afterwards was paint on a couple of small white spots for reflection. Good times.

Here's a profile shot as it stands right now:

Below is what I'm thinking of doing for the identification markings. "15" is for the 15th Company, the black color is for 1st Platoon, and the "1" on the turret is for 1st Squad.

Thoughts? Comments? This look cool to you...?

Heavy Bolter Done!

2011-05-26T21:16:00.000+08:00

I'm really pleased with how this came out. I did quite a few thin washes of umber/light grey for the dust effects, and I like the results. If I can keep this progress going, this army is going to FINALLY come together in the next few months!

Tomorrow it's assembly of the platoon command squad, and some conversion work. For my Chimeras, I'm planning on converting two or three port firing lasguns to have have protective chemical hoods on them. I also want to convert a backup compressor with a couple of hoses for the exterior of the track, to make sure the fighting compartment remains overpressurized in case of a chemical attack. I'm also thinking of taking pintle-mounted heavy stubbers with all six Chimera, but actually repping/converting them as coaxial MGs for the autocannon turret. What do you think?

Back in Action After Nurgle's Rot

2011-05-23T23:36:00.001+08:00

I spent a good chunk of last week, along with the whole weekend, sick in bed for the most part. However, after imbibing potions that my Unclean troops kindly supplied me, I am on the mend. Enough, in fact, to get a bit of progress done.

Tonight I put on decals for 1st Squad's Chimera, and painted a little on the turret. I still have quite a bit more work to do with shading and weathering, but I think it's headed in the right direction...

Chimera Paint Job Started

2011-05-18T22:25:00.003+08:00

Just finished the basecoat and camo pattern (needs a bit of touchup actually), and masked off/painted the ID stripes. I'm still not 100% convinced that this is the final scheme, but I'm going to go ahead and completely finish the paint job before I pass final judgement. Basecoat is Tamiya Desert Yellow airbrushed over Mr Surfacer Light Grey Primer, with VMC German Grey camo stripes. ID bands are Tamiya White.

Next two pics are a bit random- a Chaplain I painted up a while back for a White Consuls army project that never really got off the ground. The Serpent's Lair, one of my favorite 40K forums, is running an HQ painting contest and I thought I'd make this my entry. Unfortunately, I don't have an Alpha Legion HQ choice painted up, so this will have to do.

Not a whole lot of hobby tonight- the Chimera paint job was started yesterday during the Wesak Day public holiday here. I'll resume work on it tomorrow evening assuming I feel up to it. Until then...

Squad's Done, so Time to Work on the Transport

2011-05-15T19:57:00.000+08:00

Due to the REALLY expensive bill of doing a resin-heavy Siege list, I've decided to start my Krieg project as a 1500 point Armored Regiment. With my HQ, Infantry Platoon, and Veteran squad, I'll need six Chimeras to finish this. I have seven on the shelf from previous projects, so I'll kill two birds with one stone and get some serious armored overstock built and painted with this project.

However, being Krieg, I thought I should make a few minor conversions to the Chimeras to reflect the nature of the army they serve in. Yesterday, I posted about the port firing lasgun covers, and today I've got more to show.

In addition to drilling out all of the weapon barrels, I also added rivet detail. I used 1mm styrene rod, which is not a 100% match but close enough.

One of the great things about the new Chimera kit is the choice of turret weapons. Parts are provided to have the standard multilaser, but you also have parts to choose either a heavy bolter or a heavy flamer. The heavy bolter option comes with its own mantlet, while a completely separate mantlet is provided to use with either the heavy flamer or multilaser.

My plan is to use autocannon turrets, referring to the ForgeWorld Imperial Armour rules. Now, of course, you might rightly point out that this is not "tournament legal", as the Imperial Guard codex does not offer the autocannon as a choice. I realize this, but I like autocannons, and my approach to the hobby has always been a figure-centric version. However, in the event I play against someone who is unhappy with the autocannon option, I've magnetized the turret and mantlets to use either the heavy bolter or the autocannon option I've converted here.

After gluing the cut-up autocannon on the spare mantlet (from the IG Heavy Weapons sprue), I went ahead and used Apoxie Sculpt to model up a mantlet cover. This hides the conversion work, and I think is also evocative of the overall Krieg aesthetic. I'm happy with it, and I think it'll paint up great.

The last thing I want to do for all my armor is model them up with sand channels attached. Since I'm going for a desert theme with my bases and weathering, it makes sense to include these. I'll probably make a master from plasticard and a punch, and then mold it up to cast in resin. My tanks won't get stuck in the sand!

This week I'll start painting. Extra bits like the searchlight, smoke launchers, and door handles on the top troop access hatches will be painted separately and attached at the end. I'm doing this to facilitate masking later on. By week's end I should have some pics up and be well on my way to finishing it. Until next time...

Let's Try Posting This AGAIN

2011-05-15T01:06:00.000+08:00

I posted these Thursday night, but with the recent Blogger service loss it looks like that post is shot. Khairul, many thanks for the suggestion on including spent brass casings- much cooler!

Today I also tried sculpting gas-proof "covers" on all of the port firing lasguns. If these work out once they are painted, I'll probably make a set of masters and cast them up in resin to make the remaining Chimeras easier to build.

Hopefully this post actually stays up...!

Heavy Bolter Progress

2011-05-11T23:08:00.000+08:00

Sorry no pic tonight, but I thought I'd mention that the entire team and weapon were undercoated with resin primer, and then basecoated with Tamiya Flat Black. I then airbrushed Model Air Primer Grey on the weapon crew's greatcoats.

After that I managed to basecoat their pants, ankle wrappings, gas masks, bedrolls, gloves, helmet, and shoulder armor. With any luck, I'll get this team done tomorrow night...

Heavy Bolter Team Assembled

2011-05-09T23:04:00.000+08:00

Was a bit tired tonight, and only managed to assemble the team. I've kept the heavy bolter axle, carriage, and weapon separate to make painting easier. There's a ton of cool detail there that I want to make sure gets the attention it deserves!

With any luck, I'll get this painted tomorrow!

Two More Krieg Troopers Done!

2011-05-08T23:31:00.000+08:00

All that remains to finish the first complete squad is the heavy bolter team, which I'm going to start on next week. After that, I'll be converting and painting their Chimera transport.

For Krieg!

Better Pics and Video Coming Soon

2011-05-05T22:55:00.000+08:00

I've got my light tent set up, and it's yielding MUCH better pics!

Why pictures of my basecoated Leman Russ WIP? Well, I cringe to say this, but I'm going to pull another hobby "flip flop" and resume work on my Death Korps of Krieg. I'm really excited about the recent DVD tutorials I've watched, and I've got an idea for a DKoK "Missile Launcher" in the works as well.

I know, I know. Don't pelt me with too many e-stones. What can I say? This is my fun time, I don't have a tourney coming up, and I want to work on my Death Korps! :P

So, at tomorrow's Hobby Night I will be bringing a trooper to paint, and a heavy weapons team to assemble and start painting. Once those are done, I'll have a full 10 man squad finished. Huzzah! After that, it's Leman Russ time...

Whatever your views on my wishy-washy hobby work, whaddya think of the new pics?

Review: Vallejo AFV Acrylic Techniques DVD

2011-05-03T23:05:00.000+08:00

This past weekend I took a mini vacation in Singapore with my lovely wife. Besides all the "luvvy duvvy" couples fun stuff, I made a stop at "Storm Domain". This place is a serious modelling shop, and inside they showed me a couple of DVDs that I quickly scooped up. Both are great, but this Vallejo DVD in particular warrants a quick review on this blog.

Most of the modellers I know only work with acrylic paints. There are pros and cons to this approach, but for the most part it boils down to what we have been introduced to. Most of us in the Legio crowd have been building and painting GW models, and have been using acrylics to paint them. Keeping that in mind, this is a MUST HAVE DVD for anyone serious about painting tanks. It covers in great detail the following things:

Airbrush techniques, including new airbrush-ready primers Vallejo has released. Say goodbye to smelly, fume ridden, outdoor only spray cans!

Paint chipping

Washes

Fading & Rust

Dust & Dry Mud

Painting Tracks

Oil Stains

...and more, including a great clip at the end of an actual Panzer II driving around!

I've watched this twice already, and I have absolutely learned some new things that I will be adding to my arsenal of tank madness with upcoming projets (in particular Krieg)

The DVD takes you start to finish painting a German Panzer II, including hyper-detailed weathering and finishing at the very end. Every technique and product it features is a water-based acrylic product. No oils. No enamels. No turpentine or other smelly chemicals. Just stuff that most of us have used or would use at one time or another.

If this sounds like your cup o' tea, I recommend you get yourself this DVD. Storm Domain are happy to ship to Malaysian customers, and Maelstrom carries this DVD in stock as well. Either way, grab it. You won't regret it.

Vietnam Painting Tutorials Finished

2011-04-28T13:47:00.000+08:00

I'm happy to say that I've finished the third and final video for Battlefront's brand new range of Vietnam figures, the M48A3 Patton tank. I had a lot of fun doing these, and at some point down the line I'm sure I'll revisit this area and look at doing more.

In the meantime, it's time to start working on my own projects- first and foremost my Flesh Tearers. Until the next post...

M48 Patton Done!

2011-04-26T23:25:00.000+08:00

This is the final result of the latest Vietnam tutorial video I'm working on- the 1/100 scale M48 Patton. This time around I opted to "dirty up" the tank with my airbrush instead of using dry pigments, and I'm really pleased with the result. I also did some minor conversion work that turned out like I hoped with the "Playboy" searchlight dust cover.

You can see here that I sculpted green stuff over the searchlight in order to make it covered. It's a simple conversion I know, but I'm nonetheless stoked that it doesn't look too clumsy or out of place with the final result.

Tomorrow night I'll edit and publish the video, and then it's back on to my Flesh Tearers. Now, it's time for sleep...

Two More Done

2011-04-25T19:55:00.000+08:00

Got two more done over the weekend, with the one on the left having the red airbrushed instead of painted on. My airbrush has been giving me a lot of headaches lately, so I've ordered a new one from the US that I hope will be here soon. I've read a lot of good things about Iwata, so I chose the HP-C airbrush they make. Should be fun to check out.

This week I have one final video to do for Vietnam, after which I'll get the last two marines done for my first assault squad. After that, I'm going to treat myself to a Furioso Dreadnought and his ForgeWorld Dreadnought Drop Pod. Should be cool :)

Moving Back to Flesh Tearers

2011-04-10T11:35:00.000+08:00

Well, I've finally gotten some measure of "hobby mojo" back. I'm in my hobby room on a regular basis now, working on some stuff for work (Vietnam video tutorials), as well as some personal stuff- Flesh Tearers.

What you see above is my effort towards using a backpack that suffers from a rare plastic miscast. The spot occupied by the green stuff icon was an open hole, believe it or not. I don't have any spare backpacks, so I had to figure out a way to make this one work.

When I work with green stuff, I make a habit of taking whatever leftover putty there might be and rolling it into a sausage. I leave it aside to cure, and then add it to my "sausage bag". These sausages can be cut with a sharp knife to make some very nice chips that can work as wire/cable ports, rivets, or whatever. In this case, I made some tiny radial incisions into a chip of green stuff, and then made some angular cuts to make "teeth". As you can see I wasn't 100% successful at making these even. However, be kind, this pic is roughly 500% of actual size :)

I made the blood drop the same way- carefully trimming away material from a tiny triangle cut from green stuff. I think the effect works well enough, and now I have a cool usable backpack.

I got these guys done during Hobby Night last Friday, and I hope to get at least a couple more done today. We shall see...

WIP Word Bearer Shoulder Pads

2011-03-06T16:48:00.000+08:00

I managed to turn these WIP shoulder pads during a couple hours work last Hobby Night. While not as good as I want them to be, the results are an improvement from my first attempt at sculpting a small book icon. Of course, I still need to add the flame (like in my first shoulder pad), but these are a good start. This time around I used my knife to carefully work in the suggestion of text on to the pages, and I'm getting better at proportions and working with the putty. I'm still working at making these better, but I'm happy to see that my skills are improving with something I've worked at, and until now had little tangible success...

I'm going to try and get some painting progress done today. Kindred is fast approaching, and of course I'm behind my painting schedule (again!). My personal hobby lately has been taking a back seat to Battlefront hobby, and taking Battlefront work home. Hopefully over the coming weeks I can manage that a bit better, and get these Word Bearers done in time.

Putty Purity Seals

2011-02-16T00:17:00.002+08:00

I've continued with the putty work, and I'm starting to get more comfortable with it. Now that I've started making my own purity seals, I find that I actually prefer to using plastic or resin ones that are rigid. I like the one on the right here, combining a Forge World brass eagle as the "seal", pressed and glued over two sculpted papers.

This one is my favorite so far though. The way it hangs straight towards the ground once it passes over the edge of the pauldron makes it look natural. I think all of these are going to paint up great, and I definitely plan on sculpting my own purity seals for ALL of the Word Bearers I do. Each one is getting at least two, so I've got a lot ahead of me... :)

Pre Heresy Word Bearer Test Model Done

2011-02-13T18:38:00.003+08:00

A post, at long last.

I spent the first part of the day working on a street barricade terrain piece, and ended up making all the wonderfully sculpted sandbags look like poo with my inept paint job. So, frustrated, I put that work aside for the time being and worked on another long neglected project. I'm glad I did, for I finally finished my very first Pre Heresy Word Bearer Space Marine. I'm happy with how he came out, so now I've got a decision to make as to whether to continue doing something with this, or returning to another project like Beastmen or Flesh Tearers.

Here's a closeup shot of the two areas on this model that I sculpted myself. As you may or may not recall, a while back I sculpted my first ever shoulder pad icon. If you're interested in seeing the "before", check the post out here. Well, I made a mold of said sculpting job, and the painted pad you see here is the final result. I'm actually quite happy with this, seeing it all painted. It really does look like a flame springing from the pages of an open book. In case you didn't know, this was the Legion icon of the Word Bearers when they were still loyal. A friend of mine is working on a new version of the shoulder pad that I'm guessing will look a lot better, but I have to say that if that falls through, I could certainly live with my own home-brewed efforts.

The other bit of sculpting you can see in this shot is the Greek-style hair crest. This model is the sergeant for an assault squad, so I thought I'd spruce the ForgeWorld resin head up a bit with a nice horse hair crest. For a DIY effort, I'm happy with it. I'll repeat this sculpting for any other squad sergeants in the future.

Here's a shot from the model's right side. I actually got one of the thick GW decals to adhere properly to the shoulder pad- much rejoicing! I took a sponge with some black paint and dabbed on the decal a bit to distress it.

Finally, here's a closeup of the jump pack. The pack itself is from Chapterhouse Studios. They look great, and are reasonably priced. I gave them a simple paint job to match the armor, and used a little MIG Black Smoke to soot up the lower pack of the pack.

I like how this guy turned out, so we'll see what happens. In the meantime, it's back to the hobby room...

Test Model Progress

2011-01-13T23:32:00.002+08:00

I'm trying to paint this model with no airbrush, no pigments, and no materials (other than paint and brushes of course) that are not found in the Open Fire box. I had hoped that it would look sexy enough with just the dark yellow undercoat, but methinks this StuG doesn't pop enough. I'll entertain thoughts on this, but keep in mind the StuG...

A) Has to look good
B) Cannot require difficult to master painting methods

No small task, but nonetheless necessary if this video is going to serve as an introductory primer to the Flames of War hobby.

Hmmm...

Starting Next FoW Video Project

2011-01-12T22:23:00.002+08:00

Well, after finishing up some work tonight, I did a little cleaning up around the hobby room and decided on my next Flames of War video project. I'm going to do an introductory "painting primer" for those new to painting Flames of War tanks, featuring the Shermans and StuGs that we include in our "Open Fire" starter set. No airbrush, no pigments, and nothing else that a budding Flames of War hobbyist might not have kicking around the house. Just some clean, simple paint jobs that can be done quickly, with an introduction into simple weathering and detailing. Tomorrow night I'll shoot the StuG and maybe even the Sherman as well.

I've also got a 40K project for the upcoming "Kindred" tournament that I'm itching to start, but I'm still waiting on models and bits to show up. Hurry up postman...!

Better SU00 Pics

2011-01-09T21:35:00.005+08:00

A friend of mine the US asked me to post up some higher quality shots of the SU100 I painted for a Battlefront tutorial video, so here they be! In case you have no idea what I'm talking about, follow this link and check it out for yourself:

SU-100 Painting Tutorial

I've got projects piling up, so it's really time to get my head out of my ass and start painting and blogging again...

"Da Secret Project" Comes to Life

2010-12-17T12:00:00.004+08:00

My forays in video making at last can see the light on Battlefront's brand new YouTube channel. If you're interested in learning cool, easy ways to paint your Flames of War tanks, subscribe to this channel and check out the videos I'll be making and posting. :)

Flames of War YouTube Channel

Thanks for checking it out folks!

Pre Heresy Word Bearers Stuff

2010-12-14T08:46:00.003+08:00

I finished this master up last night, and given the results of my past green stuff efforts, I'm happy with this. I've never been very good with green stuff, but I think I've got a reasonable icon that shows a flame springing from the pages of a book. This is the icon that the Word Bearers Legion sported before they turned traitor.

I used a Chaos Space Marine plastic pad for the base, since it's got rivets and more of a "pre heresy look". I trimmed off the bottom "spike" of plastic, and left the other one in place for variety.

So, I'll try casting a few of these up and painting one up as a test model. In the meantime, it's more work on them as well as my loathsome goat men!

A Facelift and Beastmen Coming

2010-11-22T22:45:00.002+08:00

After finishing some 15mm projects of late, I spent last weekend working on a new look for my blog that I'm a lot happier with. Along with the facelift, I've got some new hobby content enroute. Stay tuned- first sample of "da new stuff" should be up by this weekend.

In the meantime, I've started working on Beastmen. Yes, another project. What can I say- just like everyone else I like new stuff ha ha ha...

Busy Hobby Weekend

2010-11-14T22:41:00.004+08:00

Good times for sure!

Yesterday, I ran Legio Malaysia's THIRD annual "Big November 40K Tournament", aka "Ghemehaal in Flames". While only 12 players competed, the crowd we got and the fun that was had made it one of the best tournaments I've been a part of. It was a hoot, and Joe Soon and his Chaos Daemons won the day in convincing fashion. Well done, dude.

Tonight, I finished up another "secret project" with the Lend Lease M4 76mm Sherman (pictured above). One project to go! Once that's done, it's time to switch gears, blog a whole lot more, and get some 28mm scale stuff done.

Loathsome goat-men, anyone...?

SU-100 Finished

2010-11-03T22:39:00.003+08:00

Believe it or not, I actually have been hobbying lately :) Above is another completed project, a Soviet SU-100. Pretty cool I think, and dead simple to paint truth be told. I'm pleased with the natural look of the log in particular.

Yesterday my first batch of Beastmen arrived, so I guess it's time to start dabbling with Warhammer and Minwax...

Panzer IV/70 (V) Finished

2010-10-13T22:47:00.003+08:00

I've been a busy bee in the hobby room lately, working on "da secret project". Tonight I finished painting this very cool German tank hunter. 'Nuff said...

I've Been Hobbying... Really!

2010-10-06T23:00:00.002+08:00

In addition to getting some work done on a pair of Panzer IV/70 (V) tank hunters for a work project, I've also primed and basecoated a section of 3 Panhard AMD-35 armored cars for my budding French force. I'm working on a tutorial I'll post here for hard-edge camo with an airbrush. More on that to follow.

I also completely finished my Mortar Platoon (sorry no pic yet), so the next infantry I'll do will be another F-V Infantry Platoon.

So, in a nutshell, it's all about Flames of War lately, and I'm having a blast. I hope your own projects are going well, and keep checking here for more news on my budding interest in videos...

Quiet Night

2010-09-27T23:46:00.002+08:00

Not much tonight- just worked a bit on my French mortar platoon (the command team), and started doing some design for a blog facelift. More to come on that one.

French Mortars Progress

2010-09-26T20:23:00.002+08:00

Not a lot of progress I'll grant you, but it's better than nothing. With a little luck, I'll finish the other three stands (2 mortar teams and the command team), and this will be another platoon in the bank.

I hope everyone had a great weekend. I'm crossing my fingers before I go to bed tonight and hope that my fantasy football team kicks some serious ass tonight...

Cheers

Random IS-2

2010-09-22T22:46:00.002+08:00

As some of you may have noticed, Adeptus Malaysia has fallen silent the last week. I apologize for that once again, but I've been a busy bee. I'm trying to teach myself how (and properly set up my hobby area) to shoot decent tutorial videos. I really dig stuff like Les Bursley's fantastic videos, and I've always got a desire to up my game and improve my hobby chops. Over the course of the last 3 or so hours, I painted and shot video of how to paint an IS-2 "quick n' dirty" for the Flames of War tabletop. I've got a lot more work to do to get this thing done, but it's fun.

As for my French, the hour is almost at hand. My progress has been horrendous, and I haven't completely finished any new models in two weeks. I've been naughty, but that doesn't mean I'm giving up on them. I might run over the time I wanted, but I sincerely want and plan to get these French done.

Hope all's well with you good people- I'll try and get back to my old blogging pace now that I'm "over the hump"...

Cheers

Posts resume this weekend

2010-09-16T23:58:00.001+08:00

Sorry for the lack of updates folks, but I've really been hard at work on a future hobby project that I'm really excited about. I can't get into it now, unfortunately, but if I can align the stars and get some stuff done, it could be a really cool thing. When I'm able to share, I certainly will :)

I've prepped and based the mortar platoon, and I plan on painting it tomorrow at Hobby Night. I'll be sure to post some pics as well. Suffice it to say I'm way behind schedule at this point, but I'll battle until the very end of this month!

HRR 6, Day 10

2010-09-08T22:24:00.008+08:00

Days Remaining: 22

Models Remaining: 63

I didn't spend a whole lot of time hobbying tonight. All I managed tonight was to basecoat a couple of bases and assemble my Deep Recon Platoon (3 Panhard AMD-35 armored cars)

I better get off my ass if I'm going to finish this Hobby Rush on time. In the meanwhile, to console myself, I listened to the following song a few times and felt much better. Now, I just need something to slay...

HRR 5, Day 9

2010-09-07T23:20:00.002+08:00

Quick post will do it for tonight, folks. I finished the first platoon's VB team and another Rifle/MG team. The heavier texture on the VB team (the one in the back) is from a little hobby experiment I tried. I took a whack at basing the stand with Vallejo White Pumice instead of putty, sand, and GF9 rocks. I like the pumice, but not at this scale. I think the ground looks too churned up/rough, so this is the only stand that will get that treatment. However, the white pumice would look fantastic on a 28mm scale fig, so this is definitely something I'm going to use on an army in the future. If you're curious and would like to know more about the pumice, check it out here at Vallejo's site. It's cool, and they've got a lot more textury goodness there as well.

I'm way behind, so I really need a strong hobby week next week if I'm going to pull this Hobby Rush off. Ugh.

Time to Get Back to Work

2010-09-07T07:22:00.002+08:00

I took a few days off to recharge the 'ole hobby batteries, and that's put me theoretically behind the curve. However, I have next week off, and that's my chance to really break the back of this project. Tonight I shall resume and get some more infantry painted, and vehicles assembled. I got my bottle of VMC Gunship Green in the mail- the last color I need to paint French vehicles and equipment. Here we go...

HRR 4, Day 4

2010-09-02T22:59:00.006+08:00

Days Remaining: 28

Models Remaining: 65

Now, I didn't get what I should have done tonight- no doubt. I only painted one Rifle/MG Team for my 1st Platoon. HOWEVER, considering I had to take some work home and hammer away at that for a while tonight, I'm stoked that I got this much done. Besides, tomorrow's Hobby Night could see four or five stands done if I really nail it. We shall see. Here's the team in all its glory:

I leave you with a mind-bending video, that I hope will give you some 80's mind poison... DIG IT

Oh yeah.

HRR 3, Day 3

2010-09-01T22:52:00.006+08:00

Days Remaining: 29

Models Remaining: 66

Didn't get nearly what I expected done tonight- curses! I had some grievous airbrush difficulties this evening that kept me angered and tinkering for an equal amount of time (almost two hours). After fixing the problem, I was pretty much out of gas and only painted one stand: the Command Rifle Team from the 1st Fusiliers-Voltigeurs Platoon. Sorry no pic, but I'll see about posting that up tomorrow with the rest of tomorrow's progress.

Take it easy. I'm already behind the ball by 4 stands, so I need to get my ass in gear!!

P.S. Not posting a pic is freakin' lame. Here's the stand...

HRR 2, Day 2

2010-08-31T23:01:00.004+08:00

Days Remaining: 30

Models Remaining: 67

I ended up doing a fair amount of running around and home duties today, so I didn't get a whole lot done with my French. Textured some bases and primed five stands black. Tomorrow I'm quite hopeful that I'll get a few more stands completely finished.

Check in with me tomorrow and I'll tell you all about it...

HRR 1, Day 1

2010-08-30T22:57:00.004+08:00

Days Remaining: 31

Models Remaining: 67

Here we go again!

Here's the first Hobby Rush Report (HRR) I'm making for my Flames of War 1750 point French Infantry Company. I've given myself between now and midnight September 30th to finish this army. I'm two for two in previous hobby rushes, so I'm going to do my damnedest to keep my record unblemished! ;)

White boxes represent models/stands that haven't been built yet. Yellow is built, blue is painting progress, and green shows a completely finished stand/model. So, as you can see from the chart above, I've only finished one model thus far.

I didn't get a whole lot done tonight- just some gap filling putty work. Tomorrow I plan on getting some more painting done, so we'll see how that goes.

Anyone else starting some new hobby projects? Tell me all about it! Let's get some models DONE...

Back From Malacca

2010-08-29T22:15:00.004+08:00

I'm baaa-ack!

I had a fantastic time over the last two days. My wife and I really got into the whole tourist thing and did a lot over the course of two days. We took a river sightseeing cruise that involved monitor lizards and almost getting run down by another tour boat operator who wanted to pass. Good times.

I had chicken rice balls on Jonker Street, checked out the ruins of A Fomosa (above), took a dip, walked around, and generally relaxed and lived it up with my gorgeous wife Lena. Fantastic.

As soon as we got back, within minutes I was assembling French Infantry (much to Lena's amusement). Here's what I finished tonight:

All six stands of 81mm mortars, along with the 60mm mortar attached to the Company HQ.

All four 75mm MLE 1897 guns from the Horse Drawn Artillery Battery. I also put together one of the cool ammo tenders. These bases are going to look SWEET when they're done. They really did a great job sculpting these guns!

Now that I type it I guess it's not a whole lot, but hey, I just got back. Tomorrow I'll post up my first official Hobby Rush Report, including the full diagram of what needs to be painted for success. Thanks for checking in, and I hope your weekend was as cool as mine...

Off to Malacca

2010-08-27T10:10:00.002+08:00

Well, we're off for Malacca now. No hobby for the next couple of days- just eats and relaxing with the Light of My Life (tm), otherwise known as Lena. ;) Last night I did manage to assemble the Divisional Anti Tank section, the rest of 1st Platoon, and the first two stands of my Mortar Section. I also watched a lot of Fringe Season 1. Good times.

Have a great weekend folks. If I can, I'll make a blog post or two over the weekend with my Malacca discoveries. Until then....

Early War Starts Now

2010-08-24T23:42:00.002+08:00

I think this definitely works for me. The uniform/greatcoat basecoat was airbrushed (VMC 879 Green Brown) on, and the rest was brushed on. After applying all the base colors, I simply applied a watered down VMC Brown Shade over the whole model, watered down Black Shade over the helmets, and then VMC Matte Varnish over the helmets once again (they were a bit shiny). NO highlights were painted on. The only thing I still want to do to this stand is glue on a couple of lighter green colored Silflor tufts. They're on the way from Europe, and as soon as they get here I'll add them and take a "final pic". In the meantime, I'm going to start motoring through this army.

Could the paintjob be better? Sure, definitely, and without a doubt. HOWEVER, this paint job will be more than sufficient for a nice table quality army, and it's dead easy to do. I'm really going to try and bust this army out pronto. In case you're wondering, this weekend "Blitzkrieg" hits the shelves of your local Flames of War stockist. This is a much anticipated hardcover book that will finally allow you to play the very beginning of WW II on the tabletop. Invasion of Poland? No problem. Conquest of France? Yep, the book's got that covered as well.

The models I'm painting don't actually hit the shelves until October, so I'm definitely getting an early start here. I really want to do this army, and you have to admit they bear a striking resemblance to my beloved Krieg miniatures. It's all good folks!

Who else is catching the Early War bug? The German Light Panzer company and British Armored Regiment come out this weekend as well, so you can just right into Early War. Join me, folks. It's gonna be sweet!

Another Three Done

2010-08-23T22:52:00.002+08:00

Here's the squad thus far with three more done tonight. Yippee!

I probably could've gotten a start on the final three dudes, but I made the mistake of popping "Rocky Balboa" in my laptop as background noise. I ended up getting into the retread cries of "Get up, Rocky!", much to my hobby detriment. Please don't think less of me.

Tomorrow I'll get as much as I can get done on the rest of the squad. In the meantime, here's some so-so pics of the three dudes I finished tonight. Thanks for tuning in!

A Little Weekend Progress

2010-08-22T23:07:00.008+08:00

Well, it's not what I had hoped for, but progress is progress. Here's a pic of what I did over this weekend:

I didn't do a damn thing on Saturday except chill out.

Hang on a sec. Actually, that's not true. I did some righteous manly work on the house with power tools! I almost forgot!

I went out and got myself a drill bit for tiles, along with a couple of towel racks for my bathroom. The developer didn't put any on the wall in our house. We tried those suction cup towel racks- they blew. I remember sometime right after we moved in (late February), I went into an Ace hardware while Lena shopped in Guardian (local pharmacy chain in Malaysia for those who haven't heard of it). While in the Ace a little TV was playing infomercials about how kick ass these Korean suction cup towel racks are. "Guaranteed not to fall off!". Guarantee my balls. Oh well, I believed the delightfully androgynous Korean TV man, so I got what I deserve.

However, I triumphed with mighty power tools! I got two towel racks, carefully drilled some holes in the wall, pushed in some fiber plug things (no laughing you!), and got r' dun. Tools are awesome. DIY is awesome. My towels don't fall on the floor any more. Nice.

So, after my mighty manly stuff, I fired up the airbrush and basecoated the greatcoats. I then broke off half them and got all the base colors applied, all washes applied, and highlighted the leather. I should be able to finish them up tomorrow.

I'm off to bed, but I leave you with some power tool goodness. I hope your weekend kicked ass- I know mine did.

Let There Be Metal (and some assembled Krieg)

2010-08-19T23:10:00.005+08:00

After grilling up some seriously kick ass burgers tonight ;) I retreated up to my Chamber of Hobby Horror for some Bolt Thrower and Krieg assembly. I got three more completely assembled, and a couple more ready for e-tools, grenades, etc. I know it doesn't sound like very much progress, but the resin bits really are fiddly, warped, and loaded with flash. Definitely not for the hobby beginner or lazy bastard. No priming or painting either, unfortunately, but I can do that this weekend no problem. The Imperial war machine marches to inevitable victory.

Tomorrow night I'm planning on assembling as much Krieg goodness as I can, including a heavy weapons team. I want to paint one of those up this weekend- ForgeWorld really went to town with the poses and equipment on those. With any luck, I'll get the first squad done this weekend, and start on the Engineers next week.

I'm going back to Bolt Thrower and my hobby knife now. Take it easy, and tune in Saturday for the next Krieg progress report...

Three More Krieg Guardsmen Done

2010-08-18T23:18:00.004+08:00

Well, that makes 4!

Tomorrow I'll get as many more members of First Squad, First Platoon assembled as possible, and then get them primed and the greatcoats airbrushed grey. That'll give me Hobby Night to get as much painting done as possible on them without having to drag an airbrush along. Who knows- maybe I'll get an entire squad by the end of the weekend...? That would be TIGHT.

Take it easy folks, and thanks a bunch for the interest and comments. Until tomorrow...

More Krieg Progress

2010-08-17T23:01:00.007+08:00

I added the color blue to show models that have "serious painting progress". Gotta stay motivated!

I thought these three lately Krieg troopers were a lot farther along, but I guess I was wrong. I worked on them for a couple of hours. All I have left to do is airbrush the matte varnish and paint the bases. The rest is done.

One thing about this new painting style is that pictures look mercilessly awful. I attest that these dudes look a lot better in person. Maybe I'm deluding myself. Who knows.

I'm reasonably happy with the controversial melta bomb conversion. The pic is little off because there's a wash on there that's still a little juicy. I also didn't get the hazard striping perfectly edged and straight, either. Argh.

I like the running dude. Cool sculpt, and the painting is coming nicely as well.

Finally, the crouching dude. Another wicked sweet sculpt, and this pic shows off the company decal nicely

With any luck, I'll finish these dudes tomorrow and start building the last six models of the squad. Once I finish a full squad of ten, I'll treat myself to the Engineer Squad and Hades Drill I just got in the mail. Until tomorrow folks...