Two More Done

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

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...

Night Out = Not Much Progress

Well, I didn't end up doing any painting last night. My wife and I decided to head out for the evening, and had a fantastic meal at one of my favorite restaraunts. If you have a chance and have never tried it, pop by Sunway Pyramid and have a meal at "Mantra". It's one of the restaraunts overlooking the ice skating rink. They have a wide variety of stuff to eat, but the Indian food is tops. I love it.

Despite not painting, I did actually assemble another part of my force. My Light Gun Platoon is now assembled, equipped with the LG 40 75mm recoilless gun (pictured above).

Tonight I need to work on BFG campaign stuff, including the sub sector map I'll be posting online, as well as a campaign results form. I doubt I do any painting, but if somehow I manage it I'll try and post some pics.

For those following my progress with the Flesh Tearers, don't despair. I have by no mean abandoned them. With our Market Garden campaign coming up, I just want to get at least a playable, fully painted 1000-1500 point FJ list done. I really hate playing with unpainted miniatures! As soon as that's done, 100% of my hobby effort will go into finishing my savage Blood Angel successors...

POLL: Sanguinary Guard... Yes or No?

Hmmm. Now I'm not so sure about Sanguinary Guard.

When I first saw them, I thought they were beautiful models that had no place in my Flesh Tearers army. Too...beatific. Now though, after seeing this Flesh Tearers scheme on the GW Blog with the black wings, they seem like they might just be sinister enough with the right paint scheme.

So, please take a vote in the poll to the right and tell me what you think. I'm on the fence!

Flesh Tearers Rhino

I'm pleased with the results on this one. I had my doubts as to whether I could get Mechrite Red to spray through my airbrush, due to its grainy texture. As you can see, it worked out fine.

I undercoated the Rhino with Chaos Black spray, masked off the sides, and then airbrushed Mechrite Red down the middle. Black parts of the tank got a light drybrush of Fortress Grey, and the red areas got a light drybrush of Blood Red. Cupola visor slits were painted Snot Green with "gem" highlights of Dark Angels and Scorpion. Metal areas were heavily drybrushed with Tin Bitz, and then drybrushed again with Boltgun Metal.

Chapter symbol and 1st Company blood drop were laser cut from cereal packet card stock. It looks cool.

I have yet to determine what I'm going to paint on the front scroll. I was thinking either "Amit" or "Cretacia", but haven't decided how brave I am yet!

Tonight I'll paint as many assault troops as I can manage. I have five left to paint to be 100% ready for the CP tournament this Saturday in Penang...

Flesh Tearers Attack Bike

Not the greatest pictures, thanks to poor lighting, but you get the idea. Base by Dragonforge, painted in a new jungle scheme that will match my partner's army in the upcoming doubles tournament in Singapore.

Rhino's not done yet, but should be tonight after work...

Flesh Tearers Headed to Penang

Now that Kindred is done and in the books, it's time for me to focus my hobby attention to the upcoming "Combat Patrol" tournament being held at Gameforge in Penang. I'll be making the four hour road trip with Khairul and a couple more friends first thing next Saturday morning (March 20th). Here's the list I'm playing at the tourney:




This will be the first game I'll play with my budding FT force, and also the last I'll play with the old school Blood Angels White Dwarf PDF Codex. Either way I'm expecting it to be a lot of fun. I'll start posting pics of new FT models as I do them. More Assault Marines, as well as my first Attack Bike and first tank, a Rhino....

Skulls for the Emperor!

Measured Success @ Iron Painter

What I mean by "measured" is that I didn't make it- not even close! However, I did run the event, and folks really seemed to enjoy themselves. I'll tick that box and be happy about it. I was definitely pleased with how it went as an event.

Even though I only got a few Flesh Tearers done, I did work out some paints and methods that I'm going to proceed forward with. That's valuable information!



First off, I've definitely, 100% decided to stick with the Mechrite Red scheme. It looks just fine for me built up over black with a Baal Red wash. I waffled a bit about it earlier, but after painting it a few times I'm happy with it.

I'm happy with the bases as well. I glued on a piece or two of the GF9 heavy basing grit, with fine sand on the rest of the base. Over a black primer undercoat, I paint the base Bestial Brown, with a fairly heavy drybrush of Bleached Bone, and then a fine drybrush of white. Paint the rocks Codex Grey, Badab Black wash, and then a Fortress Grey light drybrush. Final touch is to glue on some dead grass flock, again from GF9. Looks like a nice desert scene to me...



As I mentioned before, the left shoulder pads are the old Flesh Tearer ones I've held on to for years. For the right pad, I've painted one blood drop. The Flesh Tearers are down to roughly 400 marines, leaving them enough for 4 battle companies with no veteran company or reserve companies. I figure one blood drop should be good heraldry for the First Company, so there you have it.

For flesh I tried a couple different things, and I've settled on the scheme you see at the beginning of this post. It's a Dark Flesh undercoat, highlighted with 50/50 Dark Flesh/Tallarn Flesh, and then a final highlight of pure Tallarn.

I started on a Vanguard miniature as well, which is not pictured. I made some good progress on it. Once I get it done I'll post it of course. I've decided that veterans in the Flesh Tearers will have bone colored helmets, with all other paint colors remaining the same as one of their lesser experienced brethren. I'm sure this will contradict what the new codex will show, but oh well. I want to paint them now, and I think it looks cool!

Now, I need to take a two week hiatus from the Flesh Tearers and get my Kindred force done. Stay tuned!

Iron Painter List Finalized

After getting my new hobby room (mostly) set up, I went through all of the Space Marine models I currently have. After comparing that list against what I need for Iron Painter, here is the Flesh Tearers force I'll paint this Saturday:

Captain (AoBR SM Captain)

10x Assault Marine Squad (Troops)

5x Assault Marine Squad (Troops)

5x Veteran Assault Marine Squad (Elites)

Furioso Dreadnought (Optional)

Dread Drop Pod (Optional)


This will be a nice start to my Flesh Tearers, with enough variety to not make things too boring. I'm using the AoBR Captain as my mandatory HQ choice because:

A) I don't have a Librarian model handy

B) My Seth conversion is not done

C) My Chaplain is almost fully painted

I'm doing the Veterans because I have a squad of Vanguard Assault Marines from the Space Marine boxed army release, and I have only 19 unpainted Assault Marines. Since the squad size can only be 5 or 10 for the Assault squads, my options became limited for making a legal list.


So, there you have it folks. This will be a tough nut to crack without a doubt, but I think the reward will be well worth it. Having a brand new Flesh Tearers army complete (or almost complete) when the new Blood Angels codex arrives in a month or so will be awesome! :)

Good luck to everyone this Saturday!

Playing Catch-Up

I haven't gotten much done on the computer over the last week (in fact virtually nothing), but I have gotten some hobby deeds accomplished. I've also committed myself to a new project for the upcoming "Kindred" Legio Hobby Tournament. More on that in a sec.

Flesh Tearers

I've been doing mostly jump pack assembly work along with a few individual jump pack troops. The most significant thing I've done lately is rig my first Dreadnought Drop Pod with rare earth magnets. I've placed these at the center top of all three doors, with a matching magnet in the upper engine assembly. Hopefully once the drop pod is assembled, the magnets will keep the doors from unexpectedly dropping open. We'll see.

As you'll read in the next two entries, the Flesh Tearers are going to get placed (temporarily) on the back burner. Given the upcoming Iron Painter and Doubles Tournament, two projects have taken precedence. First let's check out my upcoming Iyanden Eldar

Craftworld Iyanden Eldar for Iron Painter



Here's the first complete test model, which I'm a bit disappointed with. The model took too long- almost an hour to paint. If I'm going to get the Iron Skull by painting 1000 points, I'm going to have to speed this up A LOT.

The other problem is the paint job- it's not really up to snuff for what I usually do. The highlights are a bit extreme, and not as crisp as I'd like. Speeding up AND improving the paint job could prove to be difficult. I'm going to have a think on this and see what I can manage.

Ordo Hereticus Strike Force for the "Kindred" Doubles Tournament

I'm VERY excited about this project! I'm partnering up with Azlan, who's going to do up an ad hoc Imperial Guard force. The theme we're going for goes something like this:

A critical Imperial hive city has been invaded by a massive, overwhelming horde of Chaos renegades. The city is about to fall, with virtually all of it completely under Chaos control. A badly mauled force of the "Order of Our Penitent Lady", an Order Minoris of the Adepta Sororitas, have taken temporary refuge in the lawless underhive. There, they come across a ragtag group of gangers, refugees, and even some retired Imperial Guard who want to fight, but don't know what to do.

The Canoness then swears an oath that if these people will set aside their differences and fight with her and her Sisters of Battle, victory can still be won. The citizens agree and together the unlikely force storms off into the hive to deliver Imperial retribution!

I think it sounds pretty cool myself, and I've already got the models coming my way. I'll be using a Canoness, a Priest, a squad of standard Sisters, and some other choices that should sufficiently reflect the character of the Order of Our Penitent Lady... ;)

While I was running the Wild Card tournament I completed 7 25mm round base masters and 1 dreadnought sized base master for molding. I made these bases with plasticard and bitz to represent the hive city streets. Once the molds are done I'll cast them in resin, and both Azlan and I will use these bases for our armies as a way to unify them. Should be cool- once my SoB figs show up I'll get something done straight away so you can see the scheme I'm going for and the bases in action.

So, that's about it. How are your plans coming along for the doubles tournament? How about Iron Painter?

Resin Goodness!

 

The Lords of Baal Secundus and Cretacia must be smiling down on me, because my recent Forge World order showed up today. Two key components of my Flesh Tearers army are now here: Dreadnought Drop Pods. Wee!

 

At first glance the kits look to be in good shape. The consignment showed up less than two weeks after I placed the order, and UPS didn’t even ask for duty/tax money. Can’t beat that! Sometimes you get lucky, I guess.

 

I’ve been itching to start a vehicle project for the Flesh Tearers, so cleaning/cutting/assembly of resin goodness is in my near future. I’m planning to magnetize the doors to ensure a good fit and to allow me to open/close them for games. I’m painting the main body black, and the fins red. I’m also going to take my first real stabs at weathering with these drop pods/dreads, so hopefully I can get some passable results there. Time will tell…

 

For Sanguinius!

Space Wolf Bitz are COOL

I LOVE that new two handed weapon bit on the Space Wolves frame. The Flesh Tearer on the left has a maul made from that bit, and a mace from the plastic Chaos Knights frame. It looks vicious and is totally in keeping with the theme I'm going for.

The scout head on the right works well for me as well- it just looks good.

This is what I got done yesterday for my Flesh Tearers- no painting unfortunately but at least I got these two guys done. FYI I paint the jump packs seperately- that's why you don't see them in the pic.

I've got a long weekend ahead of me, and I fully expect to get my Chaplain finished and at least one or two more assault marines from 1st Squad. I'd also like to get a Furioso assembled. We'll see how that goes...

MkIV Right Arm + Melta = Cool

Whaddya think?

This is Forge World's MkIV Dreadnought Right Close Combat weapon, converted for use as the right CCW of a Furioso Dreadnought. The meltagun is from the Space Marine Commander's combi-melta. I used it because it's a little more compact than a full sized meltagun- in my mind it's just right.

I added a Forge World purity seal to cover up the spot where I cut some detail off. In that spot there used to be a skull, but since it would be upside down from that perspective it had to go. To complete the conversion I used a length of white metal tubing I purchased from Dragonforge Design. They make all kinds of cool stuff there which you'll occasionally see pop up in my blog. Drop by for a visit- you won't be disappointed.

I also have worked on my Chaplain bit by bit over the last few days, and have assembled a few more assault marines. So far, I've kept up the daily effort. Slowly but surely, this project is getting done.

Iron Painter



This is an event I'm really looking forward to, since I'm competing this time instead of working behind the scenes. I'll be painting Eldar from the Iyanden Craftworld, a Craftworld devastated by the Tyranids and on the edge of extinction. Because of this, they make extensive use of wraith contructs, and these will feature heavily in my army. Here's what I'll be painting for Iron Painter:

Farseer

3 Spiritseers

30 Wraithguard

2 Wraithlords

I'm going to design some custom bases for the army based on the cool GW plastic Eldar Wraithlord base. I'll make molds of everything to make the process a bit easier, and to have the ability to cast more later for add ons. I've decided that all of my Wraithguard will be mounted on 40mm bases instead of the 25mm bases they are provided with. I really think they look 100% better on 40mm bases due to their large size. Hopefully if I ever use this army in a tournament or event run by someone else they will permit it.

I'll get a test model done, and verify the paint job can be done quickly enough to make it feasible for speed painting. Of course, I'll post that puppy up once it's done.

That's about it for today. I hope any projects you all might be working on are progressing to your satisfaction. Post here and let us all know about it! :)

Progress on Chaplain Kilrus

Well, I didn't get a whole lot done last night, but at least it's progress. I did a very light drybrush with Codex Grey over the whole model to pop up the detail and highlight the black power armor. I overbrushed a Vallejo Oily Steel basecoat over all the chains and the muzzle of the plasma pistol. Finally, I painted a Khemri Brown basecoat over all of the purity seals/oath papers festooned over this detail-rich model. We'll see what I can get done this evening after work...

Here's a couple more shots of the first test model, post Baal Red wash. Enjoy.

Baal Red is Da Cure, Yo

I got a Maelstrom package in the mail yesterday, with four different shades of Vallejo red. I tried them all on test minis, and at the end of the night, the simplest solution was the best. I simply brushed on a layer of Baal Red wash over the Mechrite Red basecoat/Blood Red highlights. The red is richer, the highlights are toned down a bit, and I'm happy with the results.

I also replaced the right shoulder pad with a basic one, painted with the single blood drop of 1st Company. It looks nice, and the miniature now looks like a line Flesh Tearer that I'd be happy to push across the gaming table.

So, the testing phase is over, and now it's time for production. I won't be doing much over the next few days, as we have our big tournament "The Inquisition Wars" coming up this Saturday. I still have a to finish up a couple more tables, and I also need to complete some paperwork/organization stuff for the tourney. However, once this beast is behind me, it's Flesh Tearers all the way!

Da Pic

Not the greatest shot, but it'll do.

The Imperial chainaxe (ooooh I love typing that!) is from the ForgeWorld Berzerker Chainaxes pack. I'm not going to use the "curvy" axes, as they look a bit TOO Chaos. The angular ones are up for grabs, and I'll sprinkle those throughout the army. On the side of the axe blade you can't see, I've glued and painted white a brass Imperial Eagle.

The armor is basecoated Mechrite Red, with some basic Blood Red edge highlights. Still not sold on this shade of red, and I'll definitely do at least one more model with a different shade for comparison. In the meantime, what do you all think?

The bases will be a desert theme- painted Bestial Brown, heavy drybrush/overbrush Bubonic Brown, medium Bleached Bone drybrush to finish it off. Texture is just fine sand, with a few bits of broken cork here and there for "rocks". The rocks get a Codex Grey basecoat and Fortress Grey drybrush.

Right knee pads will have squad numbers (in this case 1st Squad), as will the top right of the jump packs. On the top left of the jump pack will be the company symbol (in this case 1st Company represented by one red blood drop. Oh, and before you complain this guy's not painted as a vet, the Flesh Tearers don't have a veteran company- their vets are mixed in with the four line companies).

Left shoulder pad is the GW metal one- I grabbed a bag of those in Baltimore when I still worked for GW, and I've held on to them a long time. I'm glad I did. Right shoulder pad is the GW metal assault squad pad. After finishing the model, I quickly realized this was a mistake. All Flesh Tearers are ready to fulfill any role needed, and the assault squad icon is a bit too regimented. I think the best thing to put there instead is one blood drop for his company. What do you guys think?

Helmet is a Chaos Space Marine one- vicious looking without the horns and other wicked stuff that would go too far (at least for my tastes).

Finally, I have to admit something a bit embarassing. This model actually isn't finished. I meant to paint the chest skull gold and the jump pack harness Oily Steel. The Tin Bitz you see was just a basecoat, and I completely spaced that. I guess I'm just a bit tired this week, so go easy.

Other than that gaffe, what do you guys think of the scheme?

For Sanguinius!

Well, I've just finished my first test model for the new hobby hotness- Flesh Tearer Space Marines. Sorry no pic, but the light levels are lousy in here and the image won't be very good. I'll snap a pic tomorrow so you all can see the first one. I'm not totally sold on the red yet, but it is growing on me. Version one is Mechrite Red- a bit darker than Blood Red, but the color looks a little washed out right now. Oh well- I'll wait until I get the pic up, and we can discuss. If you're local and coming to Hobby Night, I'm bringing him with me. Comments welcome...