Stage by Stage Chimera Paint Job.

One more vehicle down.  The first Chimera of hopefully many.  Having practiced and secured a really good painting system to get them off quick, I should be able to knock out all the other stripped and repurposed vehicles in short order.

The first stage was simply undercoating the model in a layer of Army Painter - Army Green.  Now as I may have stated previously, its a bit minty (thanks for that discription Rory >_<).  So after the coat has been made, add any black on the tracks followed by a liberal (and I mean liberal) layer of Army Painter Strong Tone. 
At this point its all to taste.  I ended up using AP-Strong tone, AP-Soft tone and Aggrax Brown, all to wash down the colour and create a dirtied up affect.

Next up was to edge the well, edges with the paint tone of AP - Army Green, followed by GW Abaddon Black and GW White Scar.  This simulates the inevitable wearing down of the paint down to the priming layer.

Then some Ryza Rust was added in here and there followed by detail on the baggage.

Lens and windows were painted with dull tones like GW Mordian Blue and high lighted before a light Badab wash to add definition.

The tracks were layed over with GW Stirland Mud, applied as mud, splashed up over the rear side and sitting as mud would.  This was then washed in AP: Dark Tone, before being drybrushed with Mechanicus Grey and finally lightly with Bleached Bone.

I've just varnished it with AP: Anti Shine varnish and packed it away.

Now the plan, like my other vehicles, is to add decals and then when I've finally gotten hold of some Pigment Fixer, add some Pigment Powders.

However, next up, I'm returning to the Warzone Ressurection Bahous, to get them ready for some Demo gaming!

Thanks for reading!
R

Tank Traps! The forgotten obstacles of Stronghold Assualt.

A rather unseen part of lastest edition Stronghold Assault, is the one line affair of obstacles that you can add to lie around or in front of fortifications.  This includes Tank Traps, Razor Wire and more Obstacles.  These provide useful little areas in front of the Fortification that can either cause Dangerous Terrain tests, provide cover or even act as Impassible Terrain for land vehicles!

Whats more is that not only does this count for the ubiquitous Aegis Line, it is also 7th edition official. :)

Now they cost only a humble 15 points each and are vaguely described as being 6" in length (No depth is noted, so abuse is possible, but not by me, I'm nice).

However suddenly you can get a picture of where I'm going from here.  While many players can go for Meq armies or drop pod hordes, I present: The Trenchers!  A storng focus on the armies fortification (be it an Aegis Line or a full on Martyrs Line), fronted with lines tank traps and razor wire.  It's the ultimate camping strategy but if used right it really hinders assaulting armies or deep striking trollers.  Remember, Tank Traps count as Impassable Terrain.  Even for deep striking vehicles. :D

So below we have two bags worth of Secret Weapon Miniatures Tank Traps, which I have based upon extended Warhammer Fantasy Regiment bases.

Car repair paste.  Melts plastic if used in high quantities.

So now I have 6 x 6" worth of linking Tank Traps that prevent the movement of things like Rhino's Land Raiders and more.  Yes, Eldar, Yes Tau, whatever.  They also provide cover saves and can be placed anywhere so long as they are linked within range of the Fortification.

Its a new angle, and with my Imperial Guard angling towards a very early ww2/ww1 feel, I think its the way forward.  Especially since I'm sick of Drop Pods and Rhinos...

Now I'm looking at doing some razor wire to slow down incoming assaults and slow down troop movement.  Maybe some Necron versions to combine with Ctan Writhing Landscape and Razor Wire for ultimate troll?  Nah, I'm nice me. 

Anyway, look into Stronghold!  Get the most out of your Aegis Line!

Now, in other news!

3 Chimera and 3 Demolishers.  The muster continues!

Red Chapel Murders - Malifaux

Something different is always good.  Especially when it comes to painting.  After a chat with a friend at the local gaming store, I managed to work myself into a free commission, to help paint some stuff up for the store cabinet.

I got to choose a starter box from Malifaux, a character driven skirmish game set in a steampunk lovercraftian world, and I chose the Red Chapel Murders.  Think Jack the Riper, dead prostitutes and a leprechaun.  Welcome to Malifaux

Admittedly, I was overwhelmed at the detail.  These figures are amazing. Infinity has the gold on loads of detail, but the attitude in these figs was undoubtedly phenomenal.

But like I was saying, painting something out of ones comfort zone is always recommended.  I also got to play with making a faux slate base with bits of cut up card board. 

The tones and palette was very unusual for me, a lot of the colours I had to mix myself. 

Just a small post.  These were a commision, but damn they were hard to let go of.  Malifaux isn't a game which takes long to play, its not too expensive, but demands a lot of scenery.  Getting a board solution at home is the plan over Christmas, if the scenery looks good I may return!

R

Warzone. Bauhaus. That is all.

So after noticing the wonderful remake of Warzone, Warzone Ressurection, I've dove in with partner in crime Snorre and grabbed a starter pack.

And some more.

The game is a smaller scale grim dark styled game, which is at more of a platoon level than 40k.  It has more of a Warmachine feel to it, though arguably much less complexity.  Like 40k, the empashis is Fun over Fair, as opposed to Fair over Fun.

It uses a lot of cards too, so I have already come prepared with my own choice of card protectors.

No.

The range is still in its infancy, and uses a lot of modern techniques despite its obvious teething problems.  The figures are produced in Poland, using a 3d printer and a soft bendy resin mix.

The bases are sadly still mass produced with a slot which is never used with this range.  Nothing some cardboard and superglue can't fix!

Angelica with her Bahous Juggernought bodygaurd.  Love these guys.  Recently saw Edge of Tomorrow with those Exosuits and fell in love with them.

The Big One in the starter box.  Note the bases are drying, a mix up of sand, slate and herbs.  It was at this point I decided to go for the Venusian Jungle base, as opposed to the cliche Winter base theme most go for with Bahous.

The whole collection is about an average size for an army.  With the advanced rules, this counts as probably more. 

Old unit of Bahous!

The final unit was the elite Venusian Rangers.  With these guys I decided against the shoulder pads.  Nothing against them, I just found myself preferring the sleek look.  Considering the jungle warfare colour scheme I'm looking into doing, this will work very nicely.

Now assembled, I'm planning on experimenting with these chaps.  Use some of those P3 paints from the Flames of War German uniform set I bought a while back.  The design was suggested by someone on the Facebook Warzone page.

Thanks for reading,
R

Imperial Guard Mega Update (Pic Heavy)

As part of the mega recap, next up is the Imperial Guard of the Warick Rifles.

As you know, there was a little.... erm.... clean up operation that saw the mass paint stripping of my older Imperial Guard elements. Namely, all the old metals and such that was painted very badly in winter camos.  Not wanting to let all that war material go to waste, I grabbed some Blue Spirit (living in Norway means the brand name is most likely irrelevant to you folkes, sorry!), which is an Isopropynol cleaner they use in washing car windscreens.

Plonk everything you want to strip into an Acid Proof bucket and then pour the stuff in. Wait 10-15 minutes, take out one and scrub.

 This stuff works beautifully on both metal, resin and plastic, as it soaks into the pain and under the layers, seperating them and making it easier to scrub off the bulk.  As you can see, the plastic tank hulls had some staining, but for all intents and purposes, they were stripped good and proper.

Just don't leave them in too long...

So began the reconstruction work.  Firstly, bringing in some components from Victoria Miniatures.  Stoked about being able to field demolition veterens with carapace, I decided to make some "Regal Engineers" that would rush forward and kill a tank or three.  Later I'm hoping to get a Hades Drill for them.  Then the real fun will begin.

Anyone know where I can get some Tartan Paint?  Sorry... that was bad.

Plot twist:  I'm not sorry.

I decided to play with some polyfiller for the bases, couldn't resist throwing random bits of debris and shell casings in there.  The metal arms were a bit of a bitch to file down to reduce the unfortunate bend in them.  Looking forward to the resin versions!

Note the torsos and arms are from Victoria Miniatures, but the heads I believe are from Max Mini, resin made.  Got that same Tommy feel the army has and those skulls denomenate rank.

As an aside, I also attempted to nail together some Rough Riders.  Using the horses and bulk elements from the Fantasy Empire Outriders boxed set, I added in standard IG cadian torsos. 

The aim was to throw on some of those Victoria Miniatures rough rider arms.  Sadly my experience with resin poles at that point was not so much. So dismayed, the project was shelved while I worked on things I knew I could finish.

As a tester for the new vehicle paint scheme, I decided to repaint the 4 Armoured Sentinels I have, rebasing were needed.

I also decided that it was time to put together the Taurox kit I'd got with the new codex weeks earlier.  It's an odd but adorable kit, with tons of options and detail.  It still reminds me of a toy, rather than a kit, but maybe I'm just getting old. O_O

Unsatisfied with the turret arrangement, I converted it so that the twin linked autocanon was inside the housing, as opposed to flanking the turret.  I hope you agree, it looks more Twin Linked. :)

For my test subjects I began by using Army Painted: Army Green, or as Rory called it "Mint Green."  I wasn't too happy with the result, the tone was too light, more "heroic" and less realistic, which is what I was hoping for.

 After some experimentation with inks, I decided upon a mix of Army Painter Soft and AP: Hard inks to bring the tone down.  Aggrax Brown is just as effective, maybe more so, but I needed tons of the stuff.  

AP: Soft Coat applied

 

AP: Hard coat applied.

The Sentinel squadron after the painting was finished.

The washes in my opinion was a step forward, and allowed me to proceed in territory I was more familiar with.  After the washes dried, I edged them with the paint version of the spray, moving into wear and tear with metal colours and rust. 
Finishing off with details like vision slits and pneumatic metals, I varnished with AP: No Shine (Watch this one, can speckle white).

Using the opportunity, I tried the shading and redoing of the green on my Leman Russ squadron. It had a mixed effect which required multiple go overs.

Eventually I was satified and varnised them too.  I recently got my hands on Decal Base and Decal Fix by Valeyo, as I've always had an issue puting on transfers and decals.  Always.  I have nightmares about it.  But these liquids not only make it easy, like really easy, they also set them on hard.

The final plan is, that once I have sourced some Pigment Fixer, I can dash Pigments over them as a final effect layer.


Anyway!  Random Knight!  Yay! Another side project!  Armour is still loose, though there is nothing stopping me from painting this as is and using it.  The Armour plates I'm considering toying with some press GS moulding.  It's been a while, but I have the Green Stuff.

Meanwhile: New Infantry Platoon!

As you probably know, I made a Platoon of 4 Infantry Sections and a Heavy Support unit, all with the following uniform.  Helmets from Weird War 2.

 

Standard Uniform of the Faircroft Theatre

For a while now, the Warrick Rifles have been needing more infantry to replace those older figures.  Something to allow 2 infantry platoons, 3 sections in each just like the WW2 British Army I loosely base it off.  (A recent trip to Bovington Tank Museum got me the right books for the job!).

So what I needed to kit bash together was a new 5 man command section for the new platoon, yes that is three Flamers and a Melta Gun.  I already had 1 squad ready, time to buy two more. 

The new platoon, as opposed to the old, was originally planned (and assembled) to be a more mobile and advancing force, being armed with solely Melta Guns.  It would be covered by the 1st Platoon and its own special Anti Tank Section, which I had painted a week ago.

Platoon 1.

So, then we have the Old Guard.  Really old figures from when Warhammer Fantasy had High Elf archers with lower parts that were perfect for robed legs!  Sadly now OOP.

As they were replaced by the new Tommy Platoon seen above, I have a big choice to mate:  Conscription or Promotion?

The thinking is, should I reduce the range in the pics above to simply being a Conscript squad?  Conscripts are cheap, useful and can deal out some amazing combos with Primaris Psykers, Priests and Commisars. 

Or, do I want to add an Allied Detachment from the Death Korps of Krieg?  Promote them to the stabby, fearless humans of Krieg (Count As)?  In this instance I can remodell those huge count as missile lanchers to be Rapier Laser Destroyers! And it would allow for some amazing combos and new units (Fliers!)

Either way, a fresh lick of paint is in order...

Again, thanks for reading!
R