Sons of Chaos

At first there was 'one' and he got painted and I was quite happy at my first attempt at painting a Chaos Space Marine. All smiles. Then I looked in the box and saw two more and so I started painting them too. Before long the mark of Chaos was upon me , I thought them cool and want more [resist] (see below, WIP):

The three "Baddie" chaps are finished now but are feeling somewhat outgunned by the hoards of Space Marines waiting to invade their pretty little Space Hulk (see below, the final terrible trio):

After note: These Space Crusade figures have had a high distraction rating for me, so much for my little January AWI project and Matilda RTR. At least the Fairey Battle has its wings on ;)

Thoughts on Undercoating taking a Dip

When you have a magic bottle of "Dipping Formula Immersion" (Vallejo 73.300 Sepia Shade) what would be more sensible thing to do other than use it? As long as you don't get the dipping mixed up or out of sequence with the Doritos and the Carling Export (see below):

First up some old Games Workshop Empire Spearmen (Renaissance in my book) primed first with Airfix Grey Primer (Paint Tin #1). Then call on the "Sepia Shade" dip for some quite quick impressive results (see below)

Keeping with the Games Workshop theme but this time Science Fiction some Tau "Kroots" again get primed first in "Airfix fashion" (see below):

Then "dipped", which in my book is achead shoulder immersion (approximately a third to quarter of the figure), then spread the wash evenly in uneven measure over the figure with the aid of some rough strokes of the brush (does that make sense?). The darker chap to the far left is a tradition undercoating scheme of Vallejo Game Colour "Charred Brown". I am thinking I may be able to save myself a little paint work in lightening up the "washed figures" by comparison to the dark brown undercoat (see below):

I don't mind the greenish brown ting as these critters ferret around being grubby (no such thing as uniform, more tribal furs) and the Landsknechts themselves are a dirty lot too, once they have been in the field for a few weeks campaigning.

The washed figures once dried do give good definition to detail and have good shadow shade, let's see what they look like when a coat of paint hits them en masse ;)

Impetus: Renaissance Man (of Pike) "Wish List"

My Italian Wars (and maybe Charles V HRE versus Imperial Swiss) Renaissance Army for Impetus "needs" the following:

Four little Harquebusiers (Sk unit) [needed for Charles V versus Swiss] which are almost finished, just a few facial details and their 'jackets' [figure mid-section] to address (see below):

Four crossbowmen (Sk unit) [for the earlier Italian Wars period], thus allowing for various Order of Battle permutations (see below, not really started yet).

These are required to screen my army's infantry frontage as they advance like all good pike armies do. More of the same Harquebusier are needed to make another full Shot unit (see below):

I also need to build a third rank of Pike [for the Charles V Spanish Coruna using old GW Empire Spearmen] (see below, note the interested" hand of a small child in the background):

This formation needs to be festooned with a unit of nasty (for the other side) skirmish "Dopplesoldners" (Sk with Impact) (see below):

Finally there is the the HRE himself with courtier (see below):

Longer term I'll need more pike, a third at least. I have one from the Perry's excellent plastic range to make a full pike block (see below):

I think these will be much quicker to paint than pike block number four, made from Wargames Foundry metals (again another full pike block, but will be a labour of love so to speak) whcih I have in a box in the loft. In anticipation of this I am in the process of creating another "front pike unit" with lowered pike and leader/swordsman types. Here they are in the first stages after undercoating is to give them a rough base colour (see below):

Once I have 'bulked out' the infantry the plan is to return back to the cavalry wings ;)

1/144 Zvezda Lagg-3 (Assembled)

The Zvezda Lagg-3 is certainly a quick assemble having but eight pieces (excluding the two that go together for the stand) and is a nicely modelled kit (see below):

I don't like the look of the peel on decals but a nice Eastern Front Soviet air asset nevertheless. It will go with the bucket of 1/144 aircraft up in the loft for a rainy day. I am still on the lookout for the cheap 1/144 Pacific war kits that seem to have dried up in the local "foot-fall" model shops. Ho hum. It's not what you have but what you want to have because you don't have it.

If only I were more sensibly project based ;)

Ranger's Lead The Way

I picked up this interesting "hit the beach" packet of Pegasus Miniatures WWII US Rangers (D-Day) aka "Saving Private Ryan". Almost as exotic as the Soviet Naval Infantry from Pegasus  I already have, I hear them calling me from the loft (see the Rangers below):

The other item of passing interest is a Russian  1/144 WWII fighter from Zevezda (see above and below):

Need to find some quiet time in the Greenhouse with these methinks ;)

"Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No it's a Gargoyle! Run it's got a gun!"

Another case of me playing with GW 40K figures [in this case a Tyranid Gargoyle] and my Vallejo Game paint collection (see below):

I did this quite a while back, which sadly means I have forgotten how I painted it, but I remember the inspiration came from wanting to use up some pink paint, which I lightened up to "white bone" on teh model. Remember it's all for me kids really ;)

Next: I have to look at some Kroots for the Tau, they remind me Judge Dredd "Cursed Earth" inhabitants

The other "Man Cave" aka "The Greenhouse"

Things are growing in "The Greenhouse", namely six tomato plants and lots of seeds (see below):

The ambitious growing plan (in addition to the tomatoes) is:

• Pumpkin
• Melon
• Sweet Corn 
• Sun Flowers
• A tray of Radishes
• Sugar Snap Peas
• Fennel
• Apple Tree (pips from a dessert apple I was eating when I was in the greenhouse)

We'll just have to wait and see if anything takes ;)

All I have to do is to remember to water them and shut the door at night. Makes a change from starring at a bit of plastic that won't change without you doing something. Organically self-starting plastic models, now there is an idea!

:)

Four Mounted Men of Renaissance

Four Renaissance "mounted harquebusiers" finally are completed (see below):

These are from the Redoubt Enterprise Renaissance range and are lovely little things. In Charles V's Impetus Holy Roman Emperor's army list they are Skirmish capable but for some reason in the Italian Wars they are Medium. They are much more useful in the former role as they can shield the heavies (Burgundian or Men-At-Arms) from unwanted harassing attention

Nice to finally get them done :)

Essential Wargaming Equipment ...

I went, retro WWII enamel (see below)

I says what it is on the tin ;)

Chaos Space Marine

Had a little play with an old GW figure from Space Crusade as a painting skill test starting with a Vallejo Burnt Umber wash then topped it with a Red wash. It certainly picks the detail out nicely (see below):

Then a Vallejo Gory Red and Anita's Acrylic Bronze to give a basic cover, that in turn gets a Vallejo Black wash to make it sinister. The figure is then reworked up with a simple highlight (see below):

The jet pack is given a bronze and Anita's Acrylic Gold treatment, highlighted with Anita's Acrylic Titanium Gold (see below):

The inner space suit casing was given the gold treatment too, for that crazy Chaos effect. The red was highlighted up to Vallejo Blood Red. I added my own "lurid green glowing power cell" look to the backpack by walking through Vallejo's shades of green (see below):

The end result: "Nasty Mean Man" looking for something soft, cute and furry to beat up or failing that a 'goodie' Space Marine ;)