Scarab Lord Chaosmorph (Ilyad Games)

Last weekend I've finally managed to cross off the list special piece among stuff being seasoned in the pile of shame: Scarab Lord Chaosmorph from Ilyad Games. The company is dead for a long time and models from that line are nowdays very hard to get but these are must-have for all Rackham fans. 

I've been thinking about those companies recently and cannot believe they fell down - Rackham especially. Back days, when it was fully operational. it had top sculptors, top painters, wide range of models plus game system on top (never managed to see the rules though). But even though it collapsed and it was long before STL files and printers rammed into the miniatures market 🙄

Not sure what Ilyad Games line was supposed to be - spin off of Rackham's sculptors maybe? Cannot tell. But it had solid line of supercoll classic fantasy sculpts: knights, demons, barbarians, fantasy creatures. There was also short line of Chaosmorphs - no idea what was that: demon / mutant / fantasy race. I really liked them and even managed to get he big guy you can see below.

It's official paintwork was stunning - kinda like Rackham's stuff so I didn't even try to copy that. Instead I chose color combo based on classic genestealers: that plus rusty oil drum and voila! - we got ourselves nasty mutated crab straight from rad zone. I regret I run out of Tamiya Clear Red - some fresh blood splatted on claws would surely look eyecathing. So here it is:

And some scale shots: here NBC suit squad is about to get to reactor guarded by the Thing:

And here - the Thing is about to get some plague zombie burgers:

Deathjack (Cryx)

One more Warmachine monstrosity just got crossed off the list. Toruk be praised for that!

When it was still in work-in-progress stage I was seriously afraid I might just put it away back into pile of shame - assembling was pain in the ass already, not mentioning the painting ahead. But all in all decision was made to give it a chance. Just like in case of Lich Lord Terminus model was painted dismantled, and assembled before washing / weathering. Still pain in the ass but I was the only way to get it done.

As for color choice I wanted something different then "classic" Cryx colors. It's rather striking models so I thought painting it bright should make it even more eyecatching. When painting was more-less finished I wanted to give a try to some OSL (head, arms, skulls) but it turned out such undertaking, having only blood red and some medium yellow, might have been not the best idea 😁 I think I might get some much more striking colors and re-do the glowy bits.

Since it's big model it was first sprayed with solid layer of standard, matt varnish and then airbrushed with Vallejo matt to make sure it's gonna be matt: not glossy, not satin, no shit like that. But after everything dried it turned out there's "frost" / "mist" on the whole piece, so everything had to be sealed once again with Revell matt. No idea what was the reason - my guess it's because of damp air (spray was used in the cellar) but have no clue really... 🙄

So here it is - ready to kill for Toruk!

And some scale shot. Sure to make it "correct" I should bring out infantry from Warmachine line, but oldie Necromunda models are slightly smaller, so the overall effect is even better. So here you can see Deathjack about to devour notorious Karloth Valois and his re-animated minions...

Moon Clan (Chaos beastmen) #2

Chaos Children at the horizon!!! 🐐🐐🐐

Yeah, so summer holiday is finally over (thank Slaanesh, Cthulhu and Satan for that...) so I could deal with some job backlogs and grab a brush for a while to expand Moon Clan crew. Like before I chose 1 gor + 2 ungors to work on and once again painting them was total fun! These models ara fuc#ing amazing!!!

There's so much character packed into those tinies and each models can almost tell own story. Not even mentioning the faces - these little bastards look just so corrupted and evil from a distance and resemble Diablo creatures so much! The one with dwarf's head is surely a child eater! 😨

As for painting I stick to middlehammer era aesthetics: vivid colors and clean, bright paintwork. Hopefully. After years spent on painting everything dark and dirty clean painting it's a breath of fresh air over painting station. Bases aren't finished yet - they'll be done after whole wargand is painted to make all models coherent.

So here they are - goatmen and fallen ones deep in perilous ash wastes enviroment:

Here - on mellow fields of Border Princes:

And here group shot - inbred clan about to chew on some plague zombies:

Time to pick another trio and thing about proper banner...

Blood Bowl rat ogre

Eeek! Eeek! 🐭

As mentioned after finishing ogre mercenary clubber I was considering starting Blood Bowl team and there's quite a big chance it's going to be Skaven team. Although I've played the game only once, I deeply believe I can play any game as long as I like the models. 

And those stinky, eeking, sneaky creatures are just so damn cool...

But before purchasing any new model (skaven or any other) I decided to paint a test piece just to see what can I achieve to support the Blood Bowl league. Few years back I got pair of placcy rat ogres. These were supposed to be base for some sci-fi conversion, but it turned out I hated these plastic crap so much they both landed on the top of Pile of Shame. 

Until last week, when one of these has been excavated...

Not sure this one's going to become a player, but I am sure I wanted to test some colors planned for the team. Skaven are pretty dirty (and stinky...) creatures so to provide some contrast I picked white for clohing and yellow for armour. That should look pretty effective worn by gray-ish creature standing on green grass.

At first I wanted tu use static grass applicator - haven't tried adding static grass on normal size base yet, but it turned out it got broken during last moving. Started digging in the hobby box and found some old modelling flock. It's really old - I guess I got it like 10-15 years ago? 

It's nothing like static grass, but looks just fine as Blood Bowl field.

Add green base edge to this and we're back into 90's again! 🥳

I am pretty pleased about this test piece. Apart the fact generally I hate plastic models I could use is for gaming. Looking at the pics and model in th flesh there's something missing. Some strong, focal point. I was thinking about some fresh blood on the claw or on bandages (or on both) or maybe some reddish dirt around bandages. 

I'll think about it - there's no need to be hasty while painting miniatures.

Zombicide thing

This time something rather unusual: placcy piece from Zombicide board game.
Apparently the game is quite popular but I've never seen it until recently friend of mine brought some Zombicide stuff for Bolt Action game.

I was actually interested  only in models not the game. And models are really cool - one more bendy plastic technological marvel with all those details and digital design: totally not my cup of tea. But that's what happens when you become old, grumpy, hobby dude - everything seems to be kinda f#cked...

The model was painted for that friend, actually - his kid who's leukemia survivor (was born with that shit). During the game kid got some nosebleed and he (and his dad) got kinda scarred, kid started panic etc for obvious reasons. All in all everything was ok, but I declared to paint one of zombies (or alien ghouls - whatever the f#ck it really is) to cheer the kid up.
Hope it does the trick.

Scavvies for attention, Looking at the picture I think I could use couple of those as Scavvy ghouls (remind me ghouls from Fallout 3):

First try on 15mm scale stuff

This time it's something quick. And delayed on purpose.

First - I finally decided to give a try to 15mm scale minis. Some time ago I got some scavengers and mutants from Khurasan Miniatures but sadl they have just been stored in the sarcofago. Until now.
The reason for digging them out were latest posts on Tales from far point bloggy:
the guy started sculpting stuff based on classic Warzone game! And since I am suffering from serious Warzone fever I simply could not resist!

So there was no other choice for me but trying to paint at least some of 15mm tinies from the junk pile. I had no special bases for the minis so human sized ones were put on small washers (?) while super mutants on standard 25mm round bases. Looking at the pic below I am seriously considering getting some 20mm round bases though...

I took the pic with Warzone nepharite of Algeroth for the scale purposes.
When I placed models next to each other I realised what the charm of small scale gaming really is:
1.you can carry whole battlegroup in the pocket,
2.standard size battlefields provide way more space for manoeuvres,
3.large creatures from other games grow now into huge monstrocities!

And now the reason of the delay: zombie!

But this one is bit special (well every zombie is special for me in some way): the model was sent to Vikotnik in exchange for some goodies I got a while back. I waited with publishing until the model reached the destination.

It was a nice change to paint a classic piece from Necromunda range. 2 models like this are already members of my Scavvy gang so didn't need much another the very same sculpt.
The zombie has been very slightly modified: right arm was repositioned so I could add a banner, I also added bit cloth on it to hide the cut.

Paintjob has been sealed with solid layer of matt Revell varnish, so it should arrive safe and sound. That is of course some frenzy driven postman decides to stomp on the parcel or something... I mentioned it before - Revell makes really brill sealer but it just ruins any metallics. I gotta find some other stuff for metal parts - satin varnish should do the trick.

Till the next time!

One fucking garden gnome down

It's been a while since the previous post so it's high time for some hobby summary.

Surprisingly there was pretty lot going on so without any more unnecessary bullcrap...

Few weeks ago I spotted Undead Legionaires blister on internet auction: 

didn't think twice and 3 days later postman delivered 2 zombies to my place =D

I know these are really ugly sculpts yet since Warzone is no more I felt it's my solemn duty to save that part of hobby history.

For the same reason some I got 2 more abominations from Warzone range: nepharite of Algeroth and Ragathol (special character). 

The nepharite was one of first models I saw in Mutant Chronicles zine and surely one of models which lured me into endless labyrinth of the hobby. I'l really like to give it paintjob similar to the Paul Bonner's artwork below but we'll see: there're still many models to be painted before I can start playing with this one.

And as you can see reality is damn ugly compared to the amazing artworks =D

As for other new toys since the last post I've been testing the Dremel toy and I must say I can already see it was one of the best hobby purchases I've made in years.

Sure I've been dealing with pinning using hand drill (or whatever it's named) but new tool makes things so much faster! Especially when it comes to assembling large, metal models. As for the test I decided to pimp one of my plague zombies:

it's probably the 3th or 4th copy or the sculpt I have so the decision was made to modify it. My first thought was to make some kind or standard bearer for Necromunda (for missions with special winning conditions, scenarios or whatever) but after the job was done I found better destiny for that lil' bastard.

The pic was taken just to show the pins I managed to put into model - all using new power drill. Right arm was repositioned because I got model with broken limb - all in all I should be satisfied, because I could give it slightly more dynamic look.

And since we're next to Necromunda I also managed to prepare 2 more models to be added to plague gang: another plague zombie (what a surprise...) and second scaly.

Small conversions were made just to give the models bit of personal touch: zombie got new melee weapon (also pinned with Dremel tool) and scaly got shoulder pad - it should contrast nicely with greenish flesh.

Now the big news:
one of garden gnomes I got for painting seems to be finished: there are some minor jobs to be done after the client consulted with his co-workers but 25% or this fucking nightmare seems to be behind me.
If I can give you any advice about painting such a monstrocity here it is: DO NOT.
The size of that mammoth works absolutely demotivating, model takes lots of time to properly prepare, pin and assemble not mentioning lots of time, paint and varnish to finish the task.
The only thing I hope for is the next models will be painted fast due the experience I got while struggling with this cocker.
Anyway here it is - pic is really poor but the t-shirt was the only background available for such a caliber of model. I will try to write short review of it on CofC sooner or later.

Another big news is the fact I finally started some works on one my fav models ever: old zombie dragon (which is cool despite horrible rider model...).
Well to be frank proper works are made on the base but still I am really happy there's a chance that block of lead might be moved from the unpainted pile to much better place: display cabinet.

I also used some old models to keep the project in Oldhammer mood: wight, skeleton and zombie standard bearer. There are some paper banners planned yet I haven't decided yet which ones - old Warhammer Armybooks offer so many to choose from.
Hope you like current stage of works - the next update will contain dragon for sure. Big thanks to Skrit for providing wight model (Cheers matey! Good luck with miniatures business!)

I think some clarification is required: I am vegetarian so I didn't kill any poor crab just to put it's corpse in the display cabinet. The one used has been found dead on Spanish beach  (it was nothing but empty carapace to be honest) so adding swamp creature was no moral problem.

And the very last thing: small technical announcement:
since my appraisal site is being risen up I decided to finally finish the whole Plinth Country mess: tutorials have been already moved to proper blog section and the gallery to my Picasa album. It's already linked to the button in the right panel.
Not sure it's better than Photobucket but pica can be umploaded much faster and it seems to be more user friendly.
I also moved there some pics already stored at Chest of Colors gallery section and if I find old hard disc drive - some more will follow.

That's it for now - hope the nest time the second garden gnome will be painted =]

Zombies, zombies, zombies....

Howdy ho!

Believe or not there's more Demi spam!

I myself can actually barely believe it considering pathetic small amount time I can spend on the hobby...

Anyway the first thing is the fact I managed to re-take and replace pics of Barry, the bolter massacrator, which have been published in the previous post.

If you remember the old pics they were really poor, if you don't: well just consider yourself lucky guy ^^

While I was taking that photo I also managed to take some shots of latest plague zombie (which turned out to be 16th model painted in 2012 anno Cthulhi).
If you know the original model you can see this one has been slightly modified: gun holster on right hip has been replaced with water container from placcy IG model and the bone club in right hand was replaced with fuel canister.
There are 2 reasons for this:
- it's the second same sculpt in the gang so I wanted them to differ a bit

- I got it on Ebay together with some other models and apparently previous owner "borrowed" club and holster.

The pics are pretty grainy which was caused by using zoom while taking them. Next time I will try to take them from a distance - similar to the family postcard.

   
Last Tuesday the Dremel multi-tool was delivered.
Good news is there was a promotion: I got free LEGO set so looks like my kid will get a nice present when he stops trying to eat everything he can put into his gaping mouth ^^


But there's also bad news:
while I was getting the tool there was an information there are all drills and pieces I needed (to assemble the big models).
Unfortunately when I opened the box it turned out that was just a Dremel propaganda ><
So I had to visit local power tools dealer to get the missing part. Can you imagine this small thingy costed nearly 20% of the whole Dremel set?!?!?
It is equally fucked up to ordering single bits from Forge World...
Oh well - it's an investment after all so now there's not turning back.

And something funny for the end:
about last weekend I read I won WD subscription limited dwarf model on masterminis.net bloggy (thanks Zaphod!). All I had to do was adding that log to the watched list ^^
Looks like I know who will become leader of my small Mordheim warband.

That's all for now - the next updade should appear when the big models are assembled.

Laterz!

The bunker is not empty yet

That's right:

not only it's not empty, but there are still some rotting bastards coming out!
Just like before a plague zombie came out searching for some fresh brains.





It surely came out for lured by fresh corpse aroma but also by small painting contest organized by Tuffskull on his bloggy: Paintmaster 2012.
I don't think it's  typical contest entry - especially it's just another member of my gang, but I like the sculpt so much and also the way it turned out I just couldn't resist using it for anything more than cannon fodder during game.

I already mentioned photo station has been moved into new spot which result you can see here - especially on the last photo: it's way too much light on the model =/
I regret I haven't noticed it earlier but what the hell - all what matters is the model look nice behind the glass, together with rest of the gangers.

One of the pics has been added to the WH40K gallery so if I manage to keep this speed all of my models should get there in about 50 years ^^

Speaking of Necromunda - because I had a day off for donating blood and recently we hired babysitter I was able to sneak out to gaming room in the middle of the day (!) to work a bit on the game table in peace and quiet.
So far the only thing done is base layer of styrofoam but I already have the idea for the next (and the last) module so finally I can use all remaining bits, throw away unused junk and clean the fucking mess in the gaming cellar! There's not a chance to see the table finished yet this year yet I'll do my best - it's one of the things I promised to myself after passing the exam. Here's current stage of works:



What else?
While painting the scaly (actually while waiting for washes to dry) I picked another model to be painted next. This little fucker is sth quite special:
- it's the only model I have in 10mm scale (I guess it's 10mm that is) 
- I got it from great buddy of mine - mahon
- it will become a gift for someone even more special: my bro =]

As for the jar thing - all guests on my brother's wedding got souvenirs: some olive oil and some olives in small jars (3 years of living in Spain has finally blasted his mind).
I thought it will be nice surprise to prepare a model dedicated to the wedding  so decision was made to make a small diorama which could be placed in the jar. And it turned out the archer was the only model suitable for the job. Don't think painting can take more than 2 evenings but I will do my best to give this model some character - we'll see.




Heavy support for my gang has arrived: ~145 credits worth scaly armed with spear gun.
I am very happy the model is finished and even more happy I cannot field more than 2 of these. Even though I love most of original Necromunda line scalies are fucking awful models... But colors used should make them blend into the gang pretty fine and using originals instead of really big troll-based model is quite game-wise ^^

The spear gun is also strange device: in theory it can act really nasty but takes lots of time to reload, costs lots of credits and scaly is not the best sniper material. But is has the potential: I remember only one situation of piercing 3 models with a single shot and since then scaly spreads aura of terror among models keeping too close together on the battlefield =D
Anyway here it is - not as nice as I was hoping for but more than enough for the campaign:




And the last thing: actually the cherry on the rotting cake ^^
Since the scaly makes nearly half of the gang painted the way I want (more-less) I dragged the models to the gaming bunker and you can see the result below.

After a few shots I chose the most sharp yet using some GIMP  was necessary. I am afraid when all the models are ready I will have to buy crate of beers, pack the models and visit mahon for the photo session. Scavvies deserve everything the best =]



Cheers!