What I've been doing recently, a painting and modelling log...

[Raven Morpheus]

Spent a few hours at the table again today.

The Mordheim building parts sprue I ordered arrived, so I sat and quickly painted them and attached all the windows/doors I have to the buildings that hadn't yet received their plastic parts.

Oddly I've got 1 GW quoin and 2 large windows spare, but I'm missing a quoin foot piece!?!

Anyhow here's how all 5 buildings look when assembled in about a 18 inch x 12 inch area -

I'm thinking that the cutouts for the dormer window (in the tavern) and small window (in the long ruin) can be converted to take the 2 large windows I've got spare, and as I've got a spare quoin I can use that on the long ruin to replace one of the currently unpainted DIY quoins...

I'm also considering magnetising some attachment areas on the large building, particularly the bridge, as it's a bit flimsy/loose fitting still...

Still a few bits left to do, like paint the 2 DIY quoins on the long ruin, tile and paint the roof piece I made, and start and complete the other roof piece...


Having just quickly mocked up something in photochop I think 25 buildings/ruin corner pieces of similar sizes to these OG GW buildings (i.e. 4 inches square and 4 inches x 8 inches) would make for a nice tightly packed board. On the 1st (and only so far) game of Mordheim myself and my gaming buddy had back in January, we had these buildings plus my ruined chapel, and 14 foamcore ruins (that we want to replace), and the river I made diagonally down the centre of the board, and it wasn't particularly tightly packed.

So, only 20 more buildings to source then. I will have to see how big an area the village ruins set from Battle Systems will actually cover, without leaving many large open spaces...



Thanks as always for looking, C&C welcome.

 

[Mr. M]

After seeing that picture you just posted of the old GW Mordheim terrain, it looks like the Battle Systems buildings will blend in with them nicely. Sometimes terrain from different sets can really look strange together, but these look like they'll match reasonably well.

 

[Raven Morpheus]

After seeing that picture you just posted of the old GW Mordheim terrain, it looks like the Battle Systems buildings will blend in with them nicely. Sometimes terrain from different sets can really look strange together, but these look like they'll match reasonably well.

Hopefully. Doesn't matter if they stand out a little, a bit of variety won't go amiss. Be better than the foamcore buildings I made for 40k, 15-20 years ago at least.



I really need to start taking photos of what I've got, and where I've put it...

Today I'm in the mood for looking at stuff I've already got that I haven't finished yet, rather than actually doing any paint/model stuff...

Several years ago, circa. 2018/19 I thought about picking up again my metal Chaos Terminators that I purchased some 20 or so years ago (they were released August 1996, and advertised in White Dwarf #200). I was missing some parts, for some reason, so I bought new parts (a head and 2 trophy racks). I thought, I bought at that time Chain-Axes for them (for a more Khornate look), but it turns out they're all armed with Power Fists and I have a spare trophy rack!

Also, I've mislaid/lost a Deathwing Strikemaster/Belial magnetised kitbash I did using parts from the Deathwing Knights/Command/Terminators box set - it was in need of stripping again (I've stripped it once already since 2019), and I was considering making a 3rd attempt at painting him...


Anyhow, these are the unfinished Chaos Terminators I've got, 4x Combi-Bolter and Power Fist, 1x Reaper Autocannon and Power Fist -

This is their champion that I painted around the time I purchased the terminators, around the turn of the century -

Today I bought a singular metal chaos terminator Chain-Axe arm, an additional 2 unpainted/stripped Chaos Terminators with Chain-Axes and Combi-Bolters, because as we know Khorne's number is 8 (or it used to be), and a 3rd with a Combi-Flamer and Chain-Axe, but he doesn't have any trophy racks. So I'll probably swap his Chain-Axe for a Power Fist and (try to) flip him on ebay...


So, the plan going forwards, so that I don't end up with a major difference in quality/look, is to strip all 6 chaos terminators I've got, (try to) drill the (metal) gun barrels, and (re)paint them and the additional 2 as Khorne terminators. The champion's banner may or may not get re-used or replaced...

They'll also get 40mm bases (I'll rob those from my Deathwing terminators which have 30mm bases ready for Space Hulk), although they might be a bit oversized given the stances of the models. They'll probably be lava-esque like my Bloodthirster, Inquisitor and Grey Knights.

EDIT - I may put these on 30mm or 32mm bases, as I just found out there were rules for using Chaos Terminators in 1st edition Space Hulk, which look like they could be adapted for the most recent iteration of Space Hulk. Although they'll still be lava bases, even if it looks odd in a space hulk...


That's the plan at least, when it will get executed is anyone's guess...
If the extra parts arrive in time I may start on them mid-week/weekend next week...


Thanks as always for looking, C&C welcome.

 

[Raven Morpheus]

So, one of those nights...

I got bored, and impatient, and decided to strip the 6 Chaos Terminators. So I ventured downstairs, put my tablet on, and whilst I was doing this I watched some of the races from the Goodwood 79th Members Meeting back in April on Youtube.

Somehow, "back in the day", probably only using a pin vice, I managed to drill a hole in the top of the champion's body to put the banner pole into. The banner pole I believe came from a Space Marine Dreadnought. I couldn't get the banner pole out of the hole so I had to chop it off. I've given that area a smooth over with a sanding stick, hopefully it won't be too noticeable. I may put a magnet in at that spot to (re)attach the banner pole, depends on how it looks after an undercoat -

I managed to salvage and somewhat straighten up the banner pole, the banner was also somewhat salvageable, but I've chucked it now as it's scratched (so pointless scanning it) and there's little I can do with it anyway -

...90 minutes or so later...

The bodies stripped, there is still some black paint residue on them, but that won't likely make much of a difference once I get an undercoat on them. I managed to loose fit attach the parts to the champion for this photo -

The parts off the 2 that were painted red, plus the autocannon and 1 head that I had undercoated in black -

I'm unsure how my scrubbing the paint off has affected the detail, but everything looks OK at the moment, so fingers crossed I won't have destroyed/filled/obscured any detail.


Not sure I want to press on much further just yet, I'd rather airbrush on an undercoat and base colour on all 8 when I've received the parts that I bought last night.

I also need to drill the gun barrels out before I proceed futher, handily there's moulded in divots in the Reaper Autocannon barrel ends. Not so on the Combi-Bolters...


Thanks as always for looking, C&C welcome.

 

[Punktaku]

It’s amazing that we can look back at our own old works and be all “how the heck did I do that?!?” Or “why the heck did I do that?!?”

 

[Raven Morpheus]

A quick Steel Legion update.

Boy did I choose the wrong time to start collecting Steel Legion...

Anyhow, I wanted to replace the grenade launcher guy in the sole infantry squad I got around to buying, before GW squatted the Steel Legion models. I wanted to replace him with a plasma gunner.

Obviously they're stupidly priced and not too common on popular auction sites, so the only other option is a conversion.

So, I managed to grab a reasonably priced lasgun trooper, and purchased a plasma gun from the new "Veteran Guardsman" set for Kill Team and set to work hacking away the trooper's lasgun...

I actually tried this first many weeks ago, using a Space Marine plasma gun, boy was that a mistake, the Space Marine plasma gun is way oversized, unsurprisingly. So I've been waiting for bits sellers to get the "Veteran Guardsman" stuff up for sale.

This is the result using the more appropriately sized plasma gun. It needs a little bit of green stuff to join the left hand up better, and I seem to have taken a chunk out of the gas mask, so I may try fixing that a bit with some green stuff (when I get around to buying more green stuff), but other than that "it works" and looks reasonable -

Should have drilled the barrel before I glued the plasma gun into position, but hey ho, hopefully I can do it without breaking it off, because it was a little awkward to get into that positon...



Thanks as always for looking, C&C welcome.

 

[Raven Morpheus]

So, that time of year again...

...when hayfever, humidity, "heat waves", in my part of the UK, and just general meh feeling put me off painting...

...I was hoping today would be a better day, given that's it's cooler, less humid, and raining, in my part of the UK, but I guess poor sleep overnight due to having the air-con on has made me feel meh today also!


Rather frustratingly I seem to have peaks and troughs in my painting, October, December last year and mid-Feb this year seem to have been peaks, whilst recently I'm feeling I'm in a trough, not counting the Librarian kit-bash that got done 2 months ago...

...like Vince Ventruella says, "It's OK to not do your best" and Adam Loper of TabletopMinions says "not every model can be a banger", but I do sometimes with I could find a good level and stay at it...

The 3 Chaos Terminators I ordered nearly two weeks ago from an ebayer haven't arrived, I'm starting to wonder if I've been scammed, luckily I can put in a claim with eBay, but I've now lost enthusiasm for doing the complete unit that I would have had, so much for that plan...

The arch light I built is helping in terms of lighting, but I can't seem to get it diffused properly, everything I've tried so far (tracing paper, "white" A4 label, and scotch magic tape) either makes the light yellow or diminishes the output. I'm thinking some frosted silicone rubber half tube stuff might work, but I'd rather not waste more money trying stuff out. So, I've left the LED strip bare and it's not as harsh as it seemed on day 1, so I'm happy leaving it as is.



Anyhow I spent no more than an hour today, finishing off the 2 remaining Centaurs, for WHQ '95, to a half acceptable standard, I've become fed up with them as I've had all 3 in progress for nearly 2 months, I don't feel I can make them look any better, so, I'm sticking a fork in them and calling them done.

Final photos below, I used my light arch plus ceiling lights for these, maybe too much light (?), and with my camera they were a pita to get all in one shot, nicely zoomed in and in focus - not really sure why though. The first one I finished (a couple of weeks or more ago) is in the middle.

In hindsight I probably should have taken photos of each individual, instead of a group shot -

Thanks as always for looking, C&C welcome.

 

[Chaos Moomin]

The tails might benefit from a bit more of a gradual colour transition but overall I think they've come out pretty good. I like the colour scheme, and normally I don't like orange.

 

[Raven Morpheus]

Thanks. I did get a better transition/blend on the guy in the middle, the one I did a few weeks ago. Just couldn't do it today however, for one thing I couldn't recall how I blended it, I tried Rhinox Hide (brown) mixed with Averland Sunset (yellow), as a mid tone, but that didn't work. I tried glazing on Rhinox Hide over the yellow, that also didn't work. Merging the two using Bloodletter glaze also didn't do the job.

That's part of the reason I gave up on the other 2 and I'm calling them done. A couple or so weeks down the line having achieved something on the first one, I couldn't replicate it on the other two. Hmmm.

 

[Chaos Moomin]

This is why I'm a meticulous note-taker when coming up with paint schemes.

I'd have thought the Rhinox Hide glaze would do the trick, though. Maybe it just needs a few more passes?

 

[Raven Morpheus]

Possibly, I don't know. When I tried it earlier it just turned the yellow brown and I still didn't have a good fade, not sure more passes would make a difference. Just one of those things, as the weeks wore on the talent (or ability to comprehend stuff) ran out...

Going to chalk it up to experience and move onto other stuff. probably the Steel Legion plasma gunner conversion, seeing as I airbrush undercoated that today...

 

[Chaos Moomin]

Yeah, sometimes you just have to call a project done, or you'll be fiddling with it forever.

 

[Raven Morpheus]

So, I took some slightly better (?) photos. They're slightly underexposed, but at least they're closer in, unlike the group shots above. I should know not to take photos during the daytime, as they always turn out worse than if I take them when the sun has set and it's (getting) dark!

My light arch is brilliant for photos at this time of night though. I only had the ceiling lights on in addition, and there's virtually no shadows being cast to the side or behind the model, which is what you want as far as I understand it. I so wish I had made one before now!

First up, the guy I did a few weeks ago as the exemplar -

And the other two that I finished off today -

Thanks as always for looking, C&C welcome.

 

[Raven Morpheus]

Spent a couple of hours today making a start on painting the Steel Legion plasma gunner conversion...

Quick mobile photos -

I'm quite happy with how that's turned out so far. I'm going to try adding some highlights and a bit more shading tomorrow. You wouldn't even know I took a chunk out of the gas mask! And you wouldn't even know that the Plasma Gun doesn't belong on the model originally!

Most of it is Citadel Contrast Paint, besides the coat's main colour, the steel areas, the black lens on the goggles, and the white and red on the insignia.

I elected to not use Citadel Contrast Aggaros Dunes on the coat, like I did on the Lieutenants I painted on New Years Day, because there's very few folds in this guys coat, so it wouldn't have worked very well (for me), to be honest it didn't work that great on the Lieutenants either. I may still go back and use it purely as a targeted shade on the slightly deeper folds, as there are spots that I'm not happy with the Citadel Seraphim Sepia I used for shading...

I may add a highlight to the Citadel Contrast Creed Camo + Basilicanum Grey areas (helmet, gun casing, knife, water bottle, small box below left arm, and trousers), but I'm not sure what colour paint to use. I'm thinking a glazed on highlight of Citadel Elysian Green may work...

And the base will get a layer of Citadel Technical Armageddon Dunes (if I've got enough left), washed with Citadel Agrax Earthshade, then a drybrush with Citadel Screaming Skull.


Thanks as always for looking, C&C welcome.

 

[Raven Morpheus]

So, must be one of those days...

I finished off the Steel Legion plasma gunner...

I managed to spill 2/3 of the 24ml pot of Citadel Lahmiam Medium I've got, luckily I had paper towel down on the cutting mat so it got soaked up relatively quickly. Then my digital point and shoot camera, which is usually quite reliable (and better than my moible for photos), started playing up - power problems despite using new batteries!

I did finally get the digi p&s to work, time for a new camera methinks though...

Couldn't get what I'd call decent photos, too much light shining off him at certain angles. Seems this model didn't want to be photographed!

I also get the feeling the matt varnish I put down on his coat, wasn't mixed properly, thus it didn't matt down properly...


Photos, these are the best I could get tonight, 4 of other attempts at photos I took are attached at the bottom of the post, he looks better to the mk1 eyeball -

Very happy with how that turned out though (apart from the photos), and how quick it was to paint, only took about 3-4 hours over two afternoons. So as I can batch paint the other 9, 10 if you count the Grenade Launcher guy, they shouldn't take too long.


Thanks as always for looking, C&C welcome.

 

[Raven Morpheus]

Made a start on the rest of the Steel Legion infantry squad tonight.


There was -

After I had cleaned up the flash, I put a coat of Citadel Wraithbone all over 9 of them, not the grenade launcher guy, with my airbrush, a couple of them don't seem to have taken the paint too well so they need another going at.


I was also playing around somewhat with my mobile camera and it's settings and the position of my light arch.


This photo was taken at +/- 0 exposure setting. The guy on the right looks familiar, I guess his twin was the unlucky one...

This one was taken at -0.5 exposure setting, possibly even -1.0, because somehow, between swapping models the camera decided to over-expose/detect more shine than there is on the models on +/- 0 exposure!?!

It's that change in brightness/exposure/shine or whatever between shots that infuriates me about my mobile camera, that and the annoying auto-focus, but with the problems with my digi p&s last night I feel I need to experiment with my mobile's camera so I at least have a half decent backup...


I also took some more (possibly better, you guys will have to tell me that) photos of the plasma gunner I finished yesterday, to test my mobile further. The first photo is a bit iffy, as it's a bit out of focus for some reason, but adjusting the angle of the arches on my light arch seems to have eliminated some of the shine problem I had yesterday, probably also helps that I haven't cropped them so close/the camera wasn't zoomed in as much -

He still needs a matt layer on his coat and fatigues though, just to specularly differentiate it from the leather, tin helm and other painted metalwork...

Styrene is wonderful for making odd things that you might need, this is a stand I made to hold my mobile steady, I was hoping that having it on some kind of stand would eliminate the changes in focus between photos, but that wasn't the case, still made it a bit easier, especially as my hands aren't particularly steady when taking photos -

I also raised it up a little using the box the Steel Legion came in -

Thanks as always for looking, C&C welcome.

 

[Raven Morpheus]

Chaos Terminator squad project is back on!

The ebayer I initially bought 3 circa. 1996 Chaos Terminators from had to refund my order as it would appear the order was "lost in the post".

So, I bought 1 circa. 1996 Chaos Terminator from another ebayer, and went to The Troll Trader for a further two.


Some quick mobile photos below -

The two from The Troll Trader, I hadn't clocked it when I bought them, but the trophy racks are all lefties! I'll give TTT the benfit of the doubt and assume they didn't mix up the parts...

That may not be a problem though, because I actually only need one of these two complete, and I think the spare trophy rack I have is a righty. The one with the combi-flamer will get his chainfist swapped out for a powerfist and I'll try to flip him on ebay...

The one I bought from an ebayer -

From The Troll Trader I also randomly received a freebie -

I have an idea what to do with that TTCombat billboard. I could stick some SMD LEDs into the overhanging bits that are meant to be lights to shine on the sign itself, and paint it up as a white billboard with some chipping here and there.

I'd like to light the orange plastic sign itself (I'm assuming that replaces the MDF part? There's no instructions with the plastic bit!), as though it's some kind of holographic sign, but I don't think that it'd be possible to make it look good, without backlighting it. I doubt wrapping LED strip around the edge would produce the desired effect either.

I don't know what I'd use it for though. It wouldn't really fit in Necromunda imho, and it certainly won't fit in Mordheim, the only thing I could possibly use it for is Judge Dredd, but despite having spent many insomnia fuelled hours of madness last July making some buildings for Judge Dredd, my gaming buddy and I haven't played a game of it - because the buildings, despite being foamcore, one in particular, are difficult to transport safely (without damaging them) on buses - storage boxes are too big!

Don't know how to start painting it either. I've read that non-water based primers are good for MDF. But I don't have a Halfords rattle can to hand, and I'm not shelling out for one just for this one piece. I'm wondering if Tamiya paint thinned with Gunze Levelling Thinner would do the job as a primer and not require sanding due to the MDF becoming all fuzzy...

But I'll probably build that billboard anyhow, it'll be a good exercise in simple LED work, if nothing else.


Thanks as always for looking, C&C welcome.

 

[Ben_S]

You could try cheap (poundshop) rattle cans. Or watered-down PVA glue, as suggested here.

 

[Raven Morpheus]

Thanks Ben. I'm running out of PVA, so I don't think I have enough to water down, and I'd rather not buy anything for just this one item. I'd rather use what I have to hand. There's plenty of spare MDF from the fret so I can do some testing at least...

I do feel that I am obliged to build/use something if I've received it for free, so, half hour or so later...

Dodgy quick mobile photos below.

Front -

Back, it's a shame TTCombat don't engrave both sides -

Broken down into it's parts, very handy for painting and working on -

I didn't glue the "lights" on, and one or two are a bit loose (hence why one is missing in the photos above), but eventually they'll get glued into place. The rest, despite thinking I should use some PVA, is actually push fit and quite tight in places.

There's a pair of street lights on the fret with what I think is meant to be a bit of armco barrier between the two, but I've not built those.

So, the plan with the LEDs is to run the wires down one side and across the top to each "light" point, put the whole thing on a slightly taller base, with a CR2032 battery holder underneath, or maybe one for a 1.5v button battery for slightly less bright lighting, and a switch on the back. I may go as far as not lighting one or two of the "lights", perhaps the entire rear set. If I had some flickering SMD LEDs to hand I might also use one of those, to simulate a slightly duff light...

I'd actually like to make a feature of the wiring, instead of trying to hide it, but I don't have any heat shrink or tubing with a suitable 28mm scale look to it (I'm thinking of that ribbed cable conduit type look), so, if I've got any small enough, I'll probably use plain styrene tube instead, or failing that brass tube...


Thanks as always for looking, C&C welcome.

 

[Raven Morpheus]

Started playing around with the LEDs on the billboard tonight, when I get an idea in my head and I can make a start on it immediately I like to run with it before I run out of enthusiasm...


The SMD LEDs had a resistor on them, I bought them for another project, although I can't recall which (not any I've finished anyhow), and they appear to be warm white. So I cut off the resistor as they seemed a bit dim, although the battery I tested with isn't exactly new so that may come back to bite me.

Note to self - hot wire is the shorter untinned of the two...

I drilled a roughly 1mm hole into each of the MDF "light" parts, and threaded the SMD LED wires through, example below, the SMD LED will get superglued in place, parralel to the MDF part, when I'm done -

All 8 LEDs in position, I may not connect all 8 to the battery, as I mentioned above, to make it look like one or more have failed, I'm thinking of a kind of chipped, worn, Fallout kind of look overall -

Luckily, several years ago, I bought a CR2032 battery holder with a switch on it, saves me having to solder one on -

All 8 "lights" glued on, the PVA glue is drying so I'll wait until that has dried before I continue, I put the MDF sign part in to keep the plastic one somewhat clean in the meantime -

As I've not glued the main bits there's a slight wafer thin gap on the top frame piece that I can slide all the wires through, so I've done that temporarily for a slightly neater look to the wiring. I have some Carbon Fibre tube that I think would be perfect for the wires to go through, couldn't find any styrene tube that might be small enough, although I might have some out in the shed...

I am however wondering if I should just discard the idea of a pipe conduit to run the wires through, because doing it along the top seems a bit of a pita to me and frankly it won't look very good, and just go with the loose wires, superglue them in place along the top, run them down either side and superglue them in place as I go, conforming them to the shapes of the frame that holds the sign, the only "oddity" would be how the wires look in the span between the top and bottom frames...

I wish I had some tiny, tiny, heat shrink tubing, that'd help bunch all the wires together, but I don't.


Probably best if I paint it first, before I start securing any of the LEDs.

I shall procrastinate a while whilst the PVA glue dries...



Thanks as always for looking, C&C welcome.