First Commission WIP

I recently picked up a commission from a friend at our local gaming store.  He's building a table at home and asked me to paint some terrain up for him.  He's got a good bit of the Games-Workshop stuff so I've been working on that.  I've only got a couple of pieces completed so far...but hope to really make some progress over the next few days.  Here's what I've completed so far: A modular hill and woods

 

 

 

 I've also got a little more work done on the Protectorate Repenter model, but no pictures of it as of yet.  Thanks for reading!

New Model WIP Update

In between final exams, senior design project, and job hunting, I've found a little time to get some painting done.  There are two models I've gotten some work done on so far.  Still a long way to go on both of them but its nice to be making some progress again.

The first model is going to be a replacement for a previous one.  Its my new Vulkan He'stan model.  The one I currently use is A) on too big of a base and B) fragile.  The Spear of Vulkan is quickly becoming The Green Stuff and Super Glue of Vulkan.  So when the new Grey Knights box came out, I jumped on the opportunity to do some cool conversions with it.  And a replacement Vulkan was my first goal.

Pretty Simple conversion overall.  I cut the barrel of the Incinerator and used it to replace the Storm Bolter barrel.  Then I added a few bits from the Space Marine tactical squad and used a Dark Elf Corsair cloak for the Mantle of Vulkan.  I also used a shoulder pad bit from Chapterhouse Studios.  The flamespout is a cinematic effect from Armorcast.

All I've got done so far is the base color with some shadowing.  I've also painted everything black that needs it.  I went with the white undercoat to make the color stand out a little more.  There is still a long way to go before he's ready for the tournament scene.  The next step will be getting the metal and decorative elements painted.

The other model I've been working on lately is a Revenger Light Warjack for my Protectorate of Menoth.  I started with a tan spray and Delvan Mud ink.  I then painted up the white armor and the black that will be either the Protectorate symbol or steel/metal.  The white was done with multiple layers to add a blending effect.  Its kind of hard to see in the pictures though.

The next step for this guy is paint the silver metal colors and move onto the faction color.  I'm probably going to do a purple armor color for him.  This is my first Protectorate model so he's serving as a test piece for a variety of ideas.

Hopefully time will let me finish at least one of these guys in the next week or so.  Thanks for reading!

Some Past Works: Part 2

Here's a continuation of some of my past works.  Today is more Space Marine stuff for Blood Angels and Black Templars.

Before getting started I just want to give a quick list of some of the upcoming models I'm slowly working on (school + work + job search = very little painting time).  I've got a new Black Templar Marshall ready for the paint table, a new Salamander character model that I've begun working on, and a new Warmachine faction that I got to help out a buddy (The Player's Handbook, check them out for great Warmachine/Hordes stuff). Most of this stuff will be slow to come but hopefully I can get the job/living situation squared away quickly and can get to painting consistently soon.

Back to the past works.  Starting out with some Black Templar rhino fun.  Over the last couple of years I've started painting the interior of my rhinos.  I've heard the train of thought that this is only a 35 point model (well 50 for the Templars but you get the point) so its not worth spending that much time on.  I look at a rhino as an opportunity...and opportunity to grab attention.  Grabbing someone's attention during a tournament goes a long way in paint judging and player's choice voting.  The rhino a vehicle with a lot of flat space and a good detailed interior.  So I try to use interior painting and freehand on the top hatch to catch someone's eye.  After assembling the tracks, everything gets primed then I paint the interior before finishing assembly. 

 Most of my rhinos have some simple freehand on the front door next to the control panel.  This one missed out on it.

 Here's an example of the freehand I've done.  All of them were painted for our Adepticon Team (The Dark Knights of Dorn) and freehand was part of the painting criteria. 

The next model is a Blood Angels Terminator from the new Space Hulk game.  I cut the plastic base off of him in order to eventually mount him to a scenic base...probably a mechanical style base.  This guy was a lot of fun to paint.  Because of the uniqueness of the model, I took extra steps to make sure he looked good.  All the gem stones (and there's a bunch on this guy, and all the Space Hulk guys) has 4 colors on them.  I used two highlight colors: one for the bulk of the edges and a lighter one for the corner points and other sharp edges.  I would like to do a little more to the right shoulder pad and give the Aquila a little more definition but overall he's one of my favorite models.

Keep checking back for updates.  Like I said, I hope to get some recently completed and work in progress posts up in the coming weeks.  Thanks for reading!

Some Past Works: Part 1

As a way to start the painting portion of this blog off, I figured I would post some of the models I've completed.  This post focuses on the various Space Marine armies I've painted models for, Salamanders, Black Templars, and Blood Angels.  This post focuses on a few of the models for my Salamanders.  More pictures will come for the other guys as well as some Imperial Guard and Fantasy models.

Starting out is the Salamander head honcho from the Codex: Vulkan He'stan.

This was the first model I converted for my Salamanders army.  I, like everyone else in the free world, decided to use a Grey Knight as the base for the conversion.  I liked the more dynamic pose of the Justicar model though as opposed to some of the standard Grey Knights.  This did leave the lack of a Nemesis Halberd though.  I stole the one I used from a random Grey Knight Terminator I purchased.  He also lost his psycannon for my Inquisitor in Terminator Armor, poor guy.  The backpack is the backpack from the old Salamander Chaplain Xavier model.  I was fortunate enough to have an extra one lying around.

A more recent addition to my Salamanders collection is the old Games Day Space Marine Captain with a thunder hammer

This guy was not converted in any way.  I wanted to keep him as he was because he was a special edition mini.  I tried a couple of different things with this guy.  Most everyone is familiar with the process of painting gem stones: Dark color all over, light color on bottom corner, and white dot on opposite top corner.  With this guy I tried a couple of small black onyx stones on the hammer and right shoulder pad.  The results were kind of "meh."  It looked fine, but it just didn't pop like some of the other gemstones I've done.  Also on the hammer was the volcanic surface look as opposed to the plain metal, which I thought turned out very well.


Last for this post is a converted Space Marine Librarian

This guy was a major kit bash conversion.  I just went through my bits boxes and found a variety of stuff to make him.  Basic Space Marine legs, torso, and head, as well as the right arm.  The left arm is the sword from the Chapter Champion model from the Command Squad box.  The sword was cut off at the hilt.  The flaming sword was taken from the Empire Wizard kit.  The backpack came from the Commander box set.  The Salamander Cloak is actually the rear portion of a Dark Elf Corsair torso.  Some additional things were added such as the purity seals and loin cloth.

One final note for these guys is the bases.  My entire Salamanders army has these volcanic bases from Back 2 Base-ix.  They have a variety of resin bases in several different shapes and styles.  They have the round bases for a game like Warhammer 40k, the square bases for Warhammer Fantasy, as well as Round Shoulder bases for Warmachine/Hordes.  They also have a variety of other products such as acrylic magnetic flying stands for something like a Land Speeder (which I also have and recommend over the standard GW stands).

I'll post more pictures of some of my other completed models in the coming days and hope to give a non-inclusive list of what is to come.  Thanks for reading!

Tiger Paw Painting

I've been a gamer for over 10 years now.  And for many of those years, it was a play first, paint later attitude.  As my skills with a brush have increased, so has my desire to field well painted armies.  After painting a few armies, I decided to start documenting my projects.  These will range from individual conversions to full armies for events such as painting competitions, large tournaments like Adepticon, or just for fun.  These will be primarily for my four game systems: Warhammer 40k, Warhammer Fantasy, Warmachine/Hordes, and Flames of War.  There is a good chance that other miniature lines will make it on here though.  Maybe even one day I can add commissions to that list.  So for the foreseeable I will document my progress.  I hope to start soon.  Thanks for stopping by!