Knights Of Old

Three Knights done and ready for the Epic battlefields of the 41st millennium. 

If I'm honest I've never been a great fan of these designs. They come from the age in the mid-nineties of insipid mono-pose plastic models. An age that spawned the dull figures in the second edition box set and whole regiments of single cast skaven or chaos warriors. They did the job but were not that exciting once you'd painted one or two. I should say that I think the "new" 40k scale plastic knight is one of the best designs ever produced by GW. It's good to finally -- after owning them for nearly twenty years-- get these ones done. 

For my next project I've delved very deeply into my hoard and pulled out a classic that will never be bettered in my opinion. 

I'm thinking leopard skin and blue-greens with purple, red and yellow. No pink with black here! No, sir. Just pure 80's heavy metal. Need to hunt up some D-rok on YouTube now. 

Speaking of classics. Here is a model that I painted as a teenager. I saw him in White Dwarf and had to buy him on my next trip to the big smoke. This was before there was a GW in my state. I think that there was only one in the whole country. Ahh, the olden days.

I'm still pretty proud of that paint job.

(Hobby) Life Goes On

Just an update. Nothing new or exciting I'm afraid. Just life, and hobby (which are one and the same IMO), continuing. 

Epic comes into its own once you have Titans stalking the battlefield, I think. No point in Epic without huge behemoths hurling ordnance capable of flattening whole cities at each other. It brings a real sense of scale. And they are just plain cool! 

I've done some more work on the Rapax Dominus. It's been slow because I've not wanted to make mistake (there are plenty) and because I've been trying to channel the late '80s/ early '90s style of eye watering brightness. The next major thing are the banners. For a hint of what I'm going for think of '80s heavy metal album covers. I'm happily humming Twisted Sister's We're Not Going To Take It as I type this.

Sixty scouts all done. These are head and shoulders taller than the tactical marines. Clearly they were made long after the other parts of the range.

Twenty terminators. They are much, much bulkier than the normal marines so they stand out nicely. 

And the current project; three Knights. The total lack of variety of these has made them a bigger challenge than I expected. The easiest way around that is to do different heraldry on each but that means lots of freehand work that I'm not really in the mood for. I've been sorting through old decal sheets tonight so that may offer a solution.

The red is much better. More martial, more honour guard. I need to nail the skin though. It'll need to be pale but also still living. Some blue-greys I'm thinking. And a bright red bionic eye to draw the viewers eye. 

It's amazing how hobby, like life, goes on without you noticing it sometimes.

The Hobby Shuffle or In Search Of Inspiration

So I've been kinda stalled with the cult. I'm not happy with the one I've done and it's stopped me moving onto the others. It's the pants I think. This is why the blog has been silent for so long. I've been cracking away at other hobby but I'm not sure anybody is interested in that. I certainly feel some pressure to post only Inq28 stuff here but I've only been inspired to work on other stuff. You'll have to put up with it, I'm afraid 😉

Red and black pants?

So since my last missive I've been up to all sorts. I entered the Golden Barry painting competition at Arc40k (the biggest 40k tourney in the country) and placed third in the single miniature category with my Dark Elf Sorceress and second with my Inquisitor warband in the squad comp. Not bad. The single was won by Meg Maples of Privateer Press studio fame and second was Mark Soley the last Australian Slayer Sword winner. 

Miniature painted by me, photo by Sam Benson. For more pictures of the other winners check out the Golden Barry Facebook page. 

At Arc I picked up a couple of models from the forthcoming locally produced game Twisted by Demented games (again, check them out on Facebook) I'm not really a fan of Steampunk but these models are truly exceptional. 

This is Nouveau sculpted by the mind meltingly talented Sebastion Archer. He's supposedly a take on Neo from the Matrix so I thought green would be the thing for him. After feedback from the Golden Barrys I was really trying to push my highlights and to use the dreaded "colour theory" on him. So, it's a snot green base worked up with yellow and white for highlights and shaded with blues all the way to a strong purple. Not sure I've gone far enough yet so it's another project shuffled to the side for now. 

I've also made some more headway on my Epic stuff. 

Sixty scouts and twenty terminators that just need basing. 

And some old plastic Dreadnaughts based and done. That should push me over the 4500pt mark. I keep thinking I should do some army shots for you. Next inline are three knight Paladins, six mole mortars and the banners for this big boy

I've also played -- and won, to my great suprise-- two more games of SAGA. 

These shots are from the last game where Dean was beginning to work out how to use the Anglo-Dane battle board to his advantage. Not sure how to deal with him next time. The Normans are one trick ponies and I don't think it'll take much to neutralise that trick. Still, it's a great game even when you are loosing. 

In a different vein I'd like to thank KrautScientist over at The Eternal Hunt blog for the nice words after I posted him some old stuff. Very kind, Mr KS 😊

Are these pictures better? I bought Camera+ for my phone and it seems to have made a difference. Well worth the few dollars it cost. Here are some random test shots. 

That's about it for now. If any of you care to see what I'm up to outside the Inq28 realm let me know and I'll try to be more motivated to make this a blog of my general hobby progress. 

First Son

The first of the Fabled Son cultists.

I don't know how he eats either. Or shoots with any accuracy, for that matter

Again, not great photos. I need a better camer and the time to use it! It gives you a feel at least.

I can't say I'm all that happy. He's missing something. Something to make him pop. Or I could be trying too hard for something that he doesn't need, him being nothing more than a low-level cultist. I think I'll put him aside for a while and see what comes to me. Suggestions welcome.

Back On The Inq28 Horse

I've been threatening this for awhile but these are the first few models of my chaos cult, the Fabled Son, that I'm happy with. 

These fellows a low-level cultists recruited directly from the gubernatorial guard. 

Not entirely sure what this is but it's cute. Like a cross between R2-D2 and a T-1000.  

And a heavy hitter for the cult. 

Last weekend also saw my first game of SAGA. 

Here my Normans are about to deliver the coup de grace to Dean's Anglo-Danes. It's a great game that seems simple but has a heap of depth once you get into it. The next game has already been scheduled for next month. 

Dean's warlord very nearly dealt with these four knights before their numbers were able to tell. 

More LoC

It has been TOO DAMN LONG!!

With all the festivities of the last few weeks, that awful build up at work and the everyday pressure of "real life" interrupting my hobby time. UGH!!

But without the distractions like that, what's the point of the glory that is the hobby eh?

I have had a few AWESOME events this season, with a pack of my fellow hobby brethren taking part in a bit of a secret nerd Santa event and trading a few select bits and another group of us putting a bit of a kink in each others hobby and buying a random box for the other person, I have been BLESSED by the True Gods in my bounty.

Not only did I get the B-E-A-UTIFUL Pestigor you see below, I also received an awesome supply of Nurglings (the OOP metal buggers), a pair of Ungors (also OOP metal) a Beastmen Battalion (Just what an up and coming Wargor needs) as well as a heap of miscellaneous bits and pieces. Including a NEW IN BLISTER Mordheim Freelance Knight!!!!!!! (That is well deserving of all those exclamation points!)

In the meantime, I have managed a tiny bit of hobby time and have managed to get together a group of warriors, a sorcerer lord, a unit of Ungor Raiders AND even start a Nurgle Centigor. I call him Pesticent.

This first pair is the only blokes from these units that I have started putting some paint on, the first being probably the most converted model in GW history, the ever popular Nurgle Champion. The second will be one of the leaders of the Beastmen faction of my final army, a lovely lvl 2 Bray Shaman.

The Champion is clearly far too clean to be repping the love of Pappa N, but I can assure all of my filthy brothers and sisters, HE WILL BE DISGUSTING! 

The Warriors unit below is the start of the Nurgle half of my list. They are of course made in my ongoing theme of all the weapons and gear possible, with WoC, Beastmen and even a pair of Daemons in there for good luck. The rather tall chap in front is the wip Sorcerer Lord, of course made using a few left over parts from the Maggoth Lord kit.

This group has to be one of my favorite units so far. I honestly love the Legions of Chaos rules mainly cause I get to take a ranged unit that isn't a hellcannon. And COME ON!!! Ungors are hilarious, they're basically angry goat puppies with the pack mentality of girls in a club bathroom, they hate EVERYONE!

I decided to have a little fun with this unit, making up a little story for them, basically they managed to get the drop on a witch hunter and his cronies a while back and have taken up his cause for themselves. the banner up back (even though raiders cannot take a banner) will be painted up with some very Empire themes, messed on up and then beastified. My favorite part of this unit is the champion, I did my best to sculpt a little witch hunter hat for him and I think the twin pistols make him think he is rather intimidating.

Last, but not least, the start to my Pesticent. There is a lot of work to go on him still, he needs armor, to lose the saddle, a hell of a lot more disease and not to mention a Nurgling or two! This guy will be one of a 10 strong group of Chaos Knights with the Mark of Nurgle. I just freaking love Centigors, even if their rules do suck a lot.

I have a hobby day planned with some mates this weekend, so i hoping to get at least my Khorne warriors unit finished, but I also have a Wargor BSB, a Khorne Lord (something VERY special planned for him) and 9 more knights at least built before I can have a game or two with these bad boys.

Well that's it from me. Thanks for checking out my stuff and I look forward to churning through some more when I get the chance.

Remember, The Grandfather loves you and proves it by rotting you slowly and making sure you kill everything around you.

Servitor 755

The Silly Season

Wow, five weeks. That went quick. I've been busy at work and, of course, we've had Christmas in that time so there hasn't been as much hobby as I would have liked but here is what I've been up too. 

The four points of SAGA Normans are all done and awaiting a game in January. 

I'm happy with the way the turned out given the very little effort that I put into them. They are just base colours with Army Painter over the whole lot and highlighted back. Easy!

I picked up William the Bastard too. Not sure I'll ever use him in a game, depends on how seriously we play it I guess. 

Right now I'm working on a new 8x4 games table that I can fold to 4x4 and pack away under the house. All my old high school wood work classes have finally come in handy. 

 Yeah, that carpet has to go. And soon. It also smells. The joys of buying a house to renovate...

Oh, and I got a new desk lamp after the old one died. 

That's about it. Not sure what is next. Maybe Epic again or those Inq28 cultists, though to be honest I'm intimidated by them. I see the amazing stuff in Warhammer: Visions or on the Ammo

Bunker forums and think "holy heck, I can't do that". I did start this stuff with the idea of pushing my painting in new directions so perhaps I should just get on with it!