Brun and Lug

From Stuff I Have Painted

These guys have seen a lot of table time lately, albeit in bare metal. So I figured they would be a fun project to take on. Also, my dwarves had a good showing at a local tournament this weekend, with Gorten and crew winning the whole shebang (Though these guys were not in the list)! I decided to ride the victorious wave and turn it into painting power, always eager to use alternative sources of energy.

From Stuff I Have Painted

From Stuff I Have Painted

Lug was a lot of fun, actually, he was the main reason I wanted to paint these models. This model has never looked very realistic to me, so I decided I had carte blanche when it came to painting him. From there it was just a small step to the realization that the only sensible thing one can do when presented with such an opportunity, is paint an eff-off huge blue bear.

Once I had succumbed to that, the rest of the model unrolled. I used dry brushing on the bear, which I am actually not very good at. The technique itself is always rusty with me because I use it so rarely. It is always fun/challenging/infuriating to try something you are not practiced at. I ended up using a lot of glazes after dry brushing, because he was coming across kind of powdery-looking.

The armor was the same color as my 'jacks, since I use him in my Searforge list. The bright orange plate is a precursor to me using more orange in my other Searforge models, as there is a small piece in the recently released Mercs book stating something to the effect of the dwarves wearing bright colors when on the job to warn people who would try and stop them.

From Stuff I Have Painted

From Stuff I Have Painted

Since I had a big blue bear, my mind wandered to Baloo, and then I couldn't get that cussin' "Bear Necessities" song out of my head the whole time I was painting. It was awful. Though I did decide that if Lug was Baloo, Brun should be a pissed off Mowgli. That brought about me experimenting with the darker, Indian (Like from India) skin tone. I also incorporated the the Hammerfall Khaki and orange color to tie him in with the rest of my Mercs.

You may also notice that the rune stones around his neck look a little flat. I did, when I was looking at the pictures last night and realized I hadn't finished every part of the model. After I had put all my painting stuff away. Quite a few almost cuss words later (Trying to clean up the vocab on account of my little one) and some painting later, and we resolved that. The model is truly finished now, despite the photography.

Lastly, a got a new portable photo studio for like 20 bucks that Deke showed me. These pics were my first attempt with it. I have a lot to learn still, but they look a lot better than my previous pics.

One more quick pic:

From Stuff I Have Painted

Thanks for reading,
T

Skarlock

I hadn't finished a model in quite some time. In an attempt to just be ready for Astro I have been blocking color in on Tau and moving on. I really felt a strong painting urge this weekend and I was riding high from a pretty good showing with a borrowed Cryx list at a local tournament.

With all that in mind, I borrowed the Forces of Cryx book from a friend and decided to paint a Skarlock using the painting guide in the back. Here is how he turned out.:

From Stuff I Have Painted

From Stuff I Have Painted

From Stuff I Have Painted

This model was deceptive to me. It is far more involved than I thought and I found myself being delighted that they are only FA 1. I was a little rusty as far as detail work, OK a lot rusty, and I needed to remember my own cardinal rule of thin paints (doh!).

I am not happy with the necrotic glue, a bummer because of how prominently it plays into this mini. I haven't used inks on anything other than metallics in so long that I forgot how to work with them. We will "get it" going forward through some trial and error I am sure. In retrospect I probably should have brought the skin up a little more, as the black runes, make it look pretty dark still. Live and learn.

Thanks for reading,
T

A Long Time Comin'

Almost four years ago, during the first Privateer Press Invitational Weekend, they held a Hardcore Tournament. In the third round I was up against none other than Matt Wilson himself. He gave some cool compliments on my dwarves, we were both pretty tossed at that point, and then he preceded to kick my ass soundly with Seige.

Nonetheless, during the course of the battle, I drunkenly cajoled and harangued Matt about how Rhulic forces need a mechanic solo. He said something to the effect of, "Oh yeah, maybe..." And Rob Stoddard, who was playing at the table next to us said, "It will never happen. I am pretty sure that is in the notebook." He elaborated that the notebook was a collection of ideas that were deemed unfit for the Warmachine.

A year later Thor Steinhammer was released. Now, I know a few folks who worked for PP who have all assured me that Thor had been "on the books" long before I said anything. However, at the time, it felt pretty cool. It felt like PP was a company that was willing listen to a drunk fat guy from Idaho who had a good idea. Even though the reality of Thor not coming from that game with Matt harshed on my buzz later on, Thor has always had a special place in my heart. The one that I finally painted was handed to me at the second invite, by Matt Wilson while giving me a shit eating grin.

From Stuff I Have Painted

From Stuff I Have Painted

From Stuff I Have Painted

I tried to make him look like he was wearing coveralls, but it kinda failed. In all, I am stoked with him, and stoked to have him painted finally since he has appeared in damn near every Rhulic list I have made.

Thanks for reading,
T

Goal Met, Tourney Played In

Yesterday saw my dwarves marching out, albeit slowly, for their first Mk. 2 tournament. I was going on a 0-6 run and expected to just get it handed to me all day. The format was Mangled Metal/Tooth& Claw at 35 points. It was a lot of friggin' 'jacks and warbeasts. Let me just say, real quick, that a lot of people enjoyed and commented on the novelty of the format. To me, this format is annoying. I run 'jack heavy lists all the time so it is not novel. Instead is makes an already focus starved Rhulic mercenary battle group worse. Despite the annoyance the event was enjoyable.

I ended up taking 3rd over all, going 2-1. I beat Epic Irusk and Goreshade in the second turn by using my feat to lower defense and move the casters to where the rest of the battle group could kill them. The games were so short that I asked my opponents if they wanted to play another game to pass time in the round. By the time the last round rolled around it was gonna be my fifth game, it was against the coven, and I was matched up with a guy who was 1-1 so I knew I wasn't at the "winners table". A victory by me and a draw by them, and other various planetary alignments, would have resulted in a win over all blah blah blah, but I digress.

Eric, the guy who was playing the Coven, is a great player, and high focus casters are the bane of the way I play Gorten, so pretty much it was his battle to lose, which he didn't. That being said, I boxed his entire battle group but the Stalker who killed me. And death by Stalker is pretty cool in my book. It was a great game, and I realize I need to read more on how the Coven is activated and damaged. My one attempt at assassination was completely botched. It's cool, though, it was weak sauce anyway.

The tournament itself was all Assassination. It ran smooth, though I was unclear on how one aspect worked. It was like the VP equivalent, and if you killed the caster you got their battlegroup. But then there was some talk of like 'jack points and counting or not counting. I didn't really get it, so I just asked my opponents what size their list was and wrote that down as my VP's.

Oh yeah, and I was fully painted:

From Stuff I Have Painted

From Stuff I Have Painted

From Stuff I Have Painted

The Basher was a lot of fun to paint. The only thing I did differently than the driller was used yellow to bring up the darker brown instead of white. I like it a lot better. It makes the highlight warmer and fits in better with the khaki.

Thanks for reading,
T

Tourney Prep 2

My fire warriors have officially filed a grievance against me. They are basing it on neglect. In many ways they are right to feel angry, what with me lavishing my brushes' affections on other models right in front them. That being said, my dalliance has almost come to climax and, while fun for a weekend, I am unwilling to leave my spouse that is 40k for another at this time.
As I eluded to earlier, in the case of Gorten and the Driller, the dwarf line for Privateer Press continually makes models that I must paint/play. The Basher is no exception. It has been very rewarding to watch it come to life as it gets paint. It makes me sad that more companies are not more inventive with their dwarves. Especially GW, as then maybe I would be interested in play WHFB. As they stand now, really short people shooting a lot is ok, if the following criteria are met: A chic, wearing fish-nets, in the movie Total Recall.

From Mars Project Blog

Anyway, the Basher is all based and washed/shaded now. I have been fighting some nastiness that has laid waste to my office so I have only been able to paint for brief amounts of time between bouts of the cough medicine "kicking in". I should be in a good spot to have this guy finished by tomorrow. He is the last 'jack that needs to be painted in the battle group for Sunday's tourney. I should be fully painted and not have to worry about the self deprecation associated with not being so. I will snap pics of the whole gang as soon as they are ready to go.

Thanks for reading,
T

Feel the Hate

Magnus always jokes that one of the secrets to his painting speed and ability to finish armies is that, "You have to let the hate of the model fuel your brush." While I am almost certain Magnus doesn't hate all of his minis, there may be something to this. I don't hate the Driller, in fact I love it. Although I had already been playing Warmachine, Gorten's battle box release was the first Privateer Press product that shifted my mind from models I played, to models I had to play.
However, last night, as I was putting the finishing touches on this 'jack, completed in an unprecedented 10ish hours (Sad I know), I felt the hate. I was so eager to be done with the model, and so close, and so pissed that he wasn't done yet, that I just kept going. I was a man possessed. I couldn't have stopped had I wanted to. I blacked out, and when I came to there was just this model and so much blood...er paint.
There is a terrible down side to feeling the hate though. Towards the end, when you are filled with the anger, your quality drops off a little. The last color I did was the darker brown. I noticed my blends more slap dash, and my highlights getting harder. I should have called it there and done a lot of the weathering today. The weathering is kinda sloppy, and makes the over all paint-job look a little shabbier than I intended.
Here he is from the back:

From Stuff I Have Painted

And side:

From Stuff I Have Painted

The last pic is kind of fun. The Driller on the right I painted probably six months after the Gorten box-set was released. It is cool to see them side by side and notice the different direction of painting style over more than five years.

From Stuff I Have Painted

The gray one, coined "Killmouth" by a friend, is still my favorite. Nostalgia and all that.

Thanks for reading,
T

Tourney Prep

So these fire warriors are what I was supposed to be working on last night. I had this whole thing worked out in my brain where I would paint 40k through all of February and March. Then use April and early May to put some paint on my Rhulic stuff before I headed to Seattle to play in the Privateer Press invite weekend. I have had my dwarves since they came out, and I enjoy the army, even if I can't win with them in Mk. 2. 0-6 so far, hear me roar!

Well what ended up happening was this:

From Stuff I Have Painted

I know, I know, that is not a fire warrior. It is my second driller. Lemme explain. I am in no way the most disciplined painter, duh. But for some reason I freakin' hate going to Warmachine/Hordes tourneys with unpainted models. This not to say that I haven't, been I have made big pushes not too if it is ascertainable. In this instance, the tourney this weekend is a format that is all warcaster and warjacks or warlock and warbeasts, so we are talking ten friggin' models at the most, maybe more for Legion or Cryx? Even still, when I look at Warmachine armies that are unpainted I can't help but have the internal dialogue of, "Really? You couldn't be bothered to paint like 15 minis for a tournament?" If I am the brunt of my own mental chastisement it normally ends in myself calling me a "douche bag". Then myself is mad at me, and I need another hour with the therapist, and that shit is expensive.

Consequently, my buddy Deke, who is more disciplined than me, but a self-proclaimed "slacker" as well, feels the same way about bringing all painted armies to Hordes/Warmachine tournies. He will often bring something less than ideal in his Trollbllod list because it is painted. How weird that both of us would feel this strongly when the company that produces the models releases tournament formats that don't give a shit if the models are painted? Perhaps we are contrarians by nature?

Anyway, this guy was/is fun and a good thing to get back in the Warmachine saddle with. I way over-washed the khaki and spent probably an hour after this pic was snapped putting damn near another base coat of Hammerfall Khakki back on. Fortunately I was having trouble falling asleep last night. I should be able to finish the Driller up Wednesday night, leaving me Thursday and Friday night, as well as a large part of Saturday to finish my Basher. The tourney is on Sunday, I think...

As to my lists, they will be pretty straight forward, everything I got.
List 1: Gorten, Driller x2, Basher, Rockram, Gunner x3, Blaster x2. 35 pts.
List 2: Durgan, Driller x2, Basher, Rockram, Gunner x3, Blaster. 33 pts.

With these lists I am pretty sure my record will bump to 0-9 or 0-10, but at least my shit will be painted.

Thanks for reading,
T