Hammer and the Sword

Howling Griffons

2010-07-04T08:06:00.000-07:00

Heres a little taste of my howing griffons. So far I don't have many, and these guys were just my way of trying out the scheme.

Devilfish

2010-06-23T21:25:00.000-07:00

Alright, it has been awhile, but hey, what can I say only that im a terrible blogger. Anyways there will be more soon.

Goodbye Warhammer

2010-04-01T11:02:00.000-07:00

WHAT?! What does he mean good bye warhammer? Yeah I've decided upon it. After alot of careful reflection while I've been away from he hobby for the last eight weeks, I've decided to get rid of my stuff. I think the hobby will always hold a special place in my heart, but I feel less and less like my time and money is really fulfilling my wants in life. Its goign to be very hard for me. I've always said I don't think i could ever quit this hobby, that Im too attached to it. That sentence in itself is reason enough for my choice. Its a drug to me. I can't stop collecting or painting or lusting after shiny new armies, and I've been forced to prostitute my self (commissioned work) to pay for my habit. So, Ill say it here. I'm giving up miniatures war gaming for good. ;_;. Goodbye Warhammer...I'll miss you.

Fast And Furious

2010-03-15T13:09:00.000-07:00

I know from the title of this post you're expecting a cool post about bikers or land speeders or something, but since I don't have any of those models here to paint right now, I'll have to let you down.

Being mostly separated from the hobby in france for these past few weeks has given me some time to reflect and distance my self. I'm eager to really start getting busy with my tau army, and this is brought on by a few thoughts I've had while here.
I've been involved in this hobby for a good five or six years. I am a dedicated hobbyist and don't see myself ever getting out, for better or for worse.
In this time, I've collected many models, and started many armies but the only ones that have manages to be mostly finished are my dark angels and imperial guard, and even then they aren't that huge, no more than 2500 points each.

While i was slowly collecting and painting my Dark Angels and imperial guard, GW was busy updating rulebooks, birthing new codices, ans in general slimming down and modernizing their business. While this means that we don't need ever fear the extinction of our, and I use this term loosely, beloved gaming company, it also means, at least for me, that I miss out on a lot of the hobby.

Let me explain. If I were your average 30- 40 something year old, middle class, wargamer, I'd have piles of disposable income to spend on whatever new toys I wanted. I'd never have to worry about buying something that I wouldn't use, because it would be a relatively minor expense.

(This is what my dark inner self really looks like. My friends don't know this about chick magnet though ;D)

(Me and my buds in a number of years. Hopefully??!)

Unfortunatley for my hobby, I'm not 35, I don't have a middle class job and I don't have disposable income. I'm 16, the only money I come by comes from the odd commission and gift money around the holiday time. Thus my yearly hobby budget is limited in that could only ever be from 200 to 400 dollars per year.

If you consider the amount of money I might have spent over 5 years, and then subtract the money wasted on unproductive tangents, that is to say all the armies half started and never finished, I end up with a pretty small chunk of playable stuff.

What this all leads up to is my growing fear, that I am missing out on most of the hobby. I don't get to pick up cool new toys to paint, I don't get to switch back and forth from several healthy armies, and I can't allow myself to start collecting cool new ones when they come out. I feel more and more, that with all the Gw releases over the years, and my uncertainty about the future of the hobby, that I'll never get to do these things. I'm a kid in a candy store with empty pockets, and every day I'm taunted with new sweets. Just to enrich this metaphor lets say my parents were dentists and candy never gets stale here. (work that one out)

(GWs stock over the last few years)

Who knows what GW and the rest of the hobby will look like in ten years, or in fifteen when I too have piles of disposable income, as well as decades of painting experience? Will I get to collect wicked converted imperial guard units? Will I have enough brilliantly painted armies to never get bored, and never have to think twice about buying a new toy, knowing I can certainly use it in one of my numerous badass armies?

Bringing this all back to the present, I do know that if I want to enjoy the hobby like I've been wishing to that last few years. I'm going to have to start painting more, and faster than I do. I'm also going to have to find more work, and more money, as well as finding more good gamers to actually play games with, since another thing I seem to have forgotten is that I use these tiny, often frustrating miniatures to play a game that I think is called Warhammer.

What I want to know is, and I'm asking the older hobbyists this one, is what you thought about when you were passing your first few years of wargaming. Did it look at all the same? Did you ever have periods of doubt, feelings of regret? Nightmares of your plastic grey crack being taken from you while at the same time wondering why you drive your self to collect these little men just to paint them nice and put them on you shelf, waiting for that promised time when you could actually use them?

I think this post is already long enough, so I'll leave you to think on my words. Or go through the rest of your blog list looking for a proper miniature blog post ,D .

Cheers, Tom

Howling Griffons And Chaos test models.

2010-03-06T01:48:00.000-08:00

So, since I am lacking models here in france, I've only had a few to work on. But I will try to post a few times while I'm here. First, I've painted my Howling Griffons Attack bike, well, At least some of it. The armor and metals are down, but the metals need a wash, and I didn't bring badab black, or devlan mud.
My yellow is a really simple, and since I'm already punishing, i mean rewarding, myself by painting the tau with a white undercoat, I decided to go for an easy yellow.

-A solid base coat of Iyanden darksun (3 - 4 thinned coats minimum) This step is crucial because if you're base coat isn't perfectly opaque, the glaze's are going to make it look dirty by tinting any black showing through a dirty olive color.

-Carefully line in the crevices with brown ink.

-fine highlights of bleached bone and then white, this is important as well, you want your highlights to be tinted a bright sunny yellow, so even though it looks strange over the base coat, try to make them as light as possible without using pure white.

-Last, A few fairly rich glazes of yellow ink. make sure you add a little mixing medium, so the glazes aren't just washing over your model, you want an even coverage of the flat parts, not build up crevices.

Its not perfect yet, and I still have yet to try out different highlight colors and glazes, but I like the end result, its quick enough, and still yields a rich yellow.

The red was done following a tutorial by Simon at
Stuck Between Stations. My hasty pictures don't do it justice, but it yields a very rich red, with hardly any time at all. The green wash gives the shadows great natural depth, and really makes the red pop.

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I've also been fooling around with chaos schemes using this ogre as my test model he was one of my exchange partners brothers, but I swiped him (the brother no longer plays) and cleaned up his terrible paint texture, then added my scheme.
The skin is using the technique described on Gws site, in the painting ogres section.

I really like the look of the new skaven storm vermin's weapons, so I'm going to paint my chaos warriors and marauders weapons like theirs.

Minotaurs!

2010-02-24T02:22:00.000-08:00

My friends and fellow bloggers.
I think I may have found the inspiration for Gw's new minotaur kit. Mostly the face and legs.

Ezekiel, Grand master of librarians

2010-01-25T19:50:00.000-08:00

Painting Ezekiel was very refreshing. Infact it was so refreshing, I had terrible, depraved thoughts of abbandonning my howling griffons scheme, and painting the generic ultramarines. I know its not your guys tristan, but they are all primed, and i had to have some fun, so voila.

For the robes i used my usual mix.

1. a base of scorched,
2. bootstrap leather,
3. a mix of bootstrap and khaki,
4. a mix of bleached bone anf khaki mix,
5. bleached bone,
6. a fine highlight of bleached bone and menoth white highlight mix.

The blue was
1. Exile blue base
2. A lighter basecoat of Cygnar blue base
3. A broad highlight of Cygnar blue highlight
4. a fine higlight of 60/40 Cygnar blue Highlights and space wolves grey mix.

I had some howling griffons scouts, I meant to take some pics, but i forgot and my camera was runnign out of battery, so i wasn't going to bother.

Bases

2010-01-13T16:28:00.000-08:00

Here are the two base design/color schemes I wrote about last post. Remember I've already chosen, but I'd still like your guesses as to which one i did choose for my tau, as wel as your feed back.

The yellowish one is Graveyard Earth, followed by a heavy overbrush of Desert Yellow, then a highlight of Iyandan Darksun.

The Red is a flat base of Mechrite Red, then an over brush of Bloodstone(P3) and finally a highlight of a mix of Bloodstone and bleached bone. I'm considering using blood red instead of bloodtone (which is a sort of red-brown, similar to vermin brown. I'm really going for that red oxide look, ad the red isn't intense enough for me.

Battlesuits! Tau! Magnets!

2010-01-06T20:07:00.000-08:00

Well, this blog post will be an accumulation of many which should have been done earlier. Here are the pictures of my first couple magnetized battlesuits, as well as my first Painted battlesuit (80% complete).

My next post will feature my two base choices for the tau, Originally i was going to take your opinions on the subject, but, i've already decided. So, now youll have to guess which one I chose when i do post it!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-26T20:33:00.000-08:00

Well it has finally arrived. Although I was so busy yesterday, I'll still wish you all a merry Christmas. Now with some generous gifts, my hobby funds are replenished, and I can begin accumulating hobby supplies again.
I'll bee positng some stuff soon. Its been a while, but I have been very busy. I also forgot to update my painting log, i still need to count down my points. as it stands, ill be hard pressed to get down to zero, but I've done a lot of painting these last couple weeks, mostly for a chess board commission. (more on that later)
Happy holidays and a Joyous New year!

Stormtroopers, Revamped! Plus Valhallans

2009-10-13T18:10:00.000-07:00

Here are my storm troopers, repainted in sleek, stealthy black armor. also, at the opposite end of the tonal chart, my white vallhalans.

Ig Sentinels

2009-10-07T14:57:00.000-07:00

here are some pics of my Catachan Scout sentinel

Ig Vehicles

2009-10-06T19:23:00.000-07:00

Now this has been long overdue, and most of this stuff has been lying around for a while. I've been too occupied to post much, and even right now I should be working but here. Here are some pics of my chimera and Leman russ. TADA!

Nurgle Dreadnought

2009-08-04T20:15:00.000-07:00

I painted pierces death guard dreadnought the other day. I really enjoyed painting it, and when I do my own chaos marines army (someday) ill definitely paint it the same way.

Tau Bastion Built

2009-07-29T15:04:00.000-07:00

This week Ive been working on some tau terrain specifically a bastion. Here it is in a ll its unpainted glory, captured by my crappy web cam

Catachan Banner

2009-07-20T21:19:00.000-07:00

I'm debating what colors to use for my catachan banner.

My Idea is to have white and purple as main colors with yellow, or gold banding.

Any other cool suggetions? Preferably something with lighter tones to look nice an fancy.

Green Armies

2009-07-04T10:00:00.000-07:00

I have thought about it a lot and i came to the conclusion that all my armies are primarily green. That's not a bad thing, as I have gained a lot of experience painting brows grays neutrals and greens. I thinks thats why I have so much fun painting other armies, like my valhallans, or sisters. They were both a joy to paint because neither of them had any green, but they were still black and white, so i didn't stray too far from my comfort zone but at the same time had a couple fresh schemes to paint.

Armies I own that use green as a primary color
Gensick Guard,
Catachan,
Dark Angels

I would like, for my next army, to do something very new and fresh, Like Imperial Fists, Or Eldar, Or Tau. Unfortunately Ill be painting greens for a while yet as after games day, I am broke.

The only chances ill get this summer are valhallans and some preheresy emperors children i am painting for my neighbor.

Games Day

2009-06-25T20:37:00.000-07:00

Our table at games day, some pics of my genswick and valhallans in action where they belong, In the trenches!

Games Day Table

2009-06-25T20:35:00.001-07:00

Here are a few pics of the table our club brought to games day under construction.

More soon

2009-06-15T18:38:00.000-07:00

YOU WANTED POSTS IAN, AND YOU GOT THEM!\
Next week Ill be putting up all the photos from games day, and my clubs contribution, our table. Unfortunately, I didn't document it all through construction, but hope fully Ill have a photo of the completely built one, and definitely of it when its painted. Most of the work was building.

Seraphim

2009-06-15T18:30:00.000-07:00

These gals were a joy to paint, after painting like 60 guardsmen, I decided to reward myself, and paint up a pretty batch of pretty sororitas flyers. The sisters of battle miniatures are very fun, and I enjoyed painting them very much, especially the armor.
They are the finest unit I have ever painted.

Look a house

2009-06-15T18:28:00.000-07:00

I built a house and painted it. Oh, but not a real house.

Genswick Painted

2009-06-15T18:13:00.000-07:00

Now i know I haven't been posting for about three months, but with school, and camera complications, I didn't really feel very up to blogging. anyways here are the pictures of my genswick, mostly painted up, i just have to clean up the bases and add some detail. They were, by the way, painted all the way back in march. And in fact, all 60 in one day over the break.

Genswick

2009-03-04T19:25:00.000-08:00

Here are the first pics of my genswick. This is the first Platoon up to the painting block, and I am proud of them. They were inspired by BOLS Macharian crusade minidex, and the pictures of genswick troops in them. I later learned that these miniatures belonged to Dave Taylor http://davetaylorminiatures.blogspot.com , who is a modeling practical genius, and who I greatly admire.

Land Speeder

2009-03-04T19:02:00.000-08:00

Just dug out a pic of my Ravenwing land speeder tornado. Ive had this guy for a long time and it was actually one of my best models at the time when I painted it. Now that I'm working on my inquisition/guard force my DA space marines aren't getting much love. Speaking of space marines, i have been wanting to paint some imperial fists for a long time now, just for the yellow really, and to build a competitive space marine list from the ground up. I picked up a copy of Brothers of the Snake, a Dan Abnett novel featuring the Iron Snakes. I really like their color scheme, and they remind me of the ancient greeks. My family is Greek so i feel a sort of bond with them even if my family is from the north, which is not as similar to the islander Greeks the snakes seem to base their chapter culture on.

Citadel Washes

2009-02-26T19:57:00.000-08:00

I recently picked up the set of Citadel washes, and they are heaven in curiously, nine pots. Before the washes i used to think of painting the masses of troops as a chore to plow through so i could get to an enjoyable squad or IC to paint. But now i just want to go wild shading at the pass of a brush stroke. I want to start and Imperial fist force just to paint yellow Armor and shade it. They make painting troops fun again, you can achieve the same results which previously took an hour in a few seconds. So you can have a beautiful painted army without all the drudge work of layering. and shading. I can continue to practice these time consuming techniques without resorting to Dry brushing for which i have a disability, but actually enjoy them when i paint a single ICs robes instead of a squad of lowly Cadians' fatigues. I recommend them to the novice and the veteran. Beginners can paint themselves an army they can be truly proud of, with out crudely drybrushing or splashing on crusty paint with a paint brush that might as well be a Popsicle stick. I wont even try to express my adoration, all I can say is they are truly miraculous, a godsend, the days of mixing complicated ink washes are over. I haven't said this in a long long time. maybe almost three years.

I luv u GW

Imperial Guard Stormtroopers

2009-02-22T17:44:00.000-08:00

Here are the pictures of my first unit of Stormtroopers for one of my guard regiments. Their colors are much darker from the rest of the army, as they are for covert operations and orbital insertion, their armor is self contained and much different from that of my regular troops. the topmost picture is an example of the colors of the rest of my army. All thats left to do is clean up the bases and apply transfers.

Vindicator

2009-01-17T17:05:00.000-08:00

Here are the front, side, and top pics of my vindy. The ide lettering of vindico is crooked i know. :(

Dreadnought

2009-01-17T15:47:00.000-08:00

Here are two front and back pictures of my dreadnought.

Terminators 1

2008-10-16T17:47:00.001-07:00

These are my only painted squad of deathwing. They have been painted twice, and while maybe not looking as good as fresh miniatures, they still look alright. Also they have an unfinished land raider to ride in. Since GW doesn't sell the land raider crusader bits separately anymore, I'd have to bum a pair or crusader of of someone if I want my land raider to be useful.

Interrogator Chaplain

2008-10-16T17:38:00.000-07:00

I love interrogator chaplains. They are an excellent addition to any assault role unit, as well as cool miniatures. Mine is thrown in with my power fist Termies. I have two squads of them, and plan to add a third, of lightning clawed assault terminators.

Tactical Squad 2

2008-10-16T17:34:00.000-07:00

The second of my Tactical squads.

Tactical Squad 1

2008-10-16T17:08:00.000-07:00

Here's My first Miniature Photo. These photos and the next few are the first I have ever done. They seemed to have turned out alright, some are better than others. Bear with me, some of them might be big, and not properly resized.

Golden Demon Toronto 08 Youngbloods

2008-10-15T18:58:00.000-07:00

Right, this Photo was a real easy one to get, since the guys at Games Day already took, and edited the photo for me, so it was simply a matter of cutting and pasting.

Me, Myself, And my angels

2008-10-15T18:18:00.001-07:00

In this first blog of mine, Ill be showcasing my ever growing dark angels space marine army. Ive got around 1500 points painted, and 1000 or so points yet to come, and gradually they will be added to the blog.

As for me, Ive been playing and painting miniatures for almost five years now. My introduction to the game of 40k was at A local Games-Workshop, where I fell in love with the space marines as soon as I saw what I would later learn to be an ultra marines army. Of course, my army deviated from the men in blue, the Dark Angels clearly caught my fancy. I fell in love with the painting side of the hobby as soon as I dipped my first brush, in to that first pot of Dark Angels Green Paint. Over the course of five years my painting skills have of course improved immensely. (Aided by my inability to drybrush properly).

This year I was proud to take home the silver young bloods trophy, at the 08 games day golden demon competition, for my Dark Angels Sergeant. (I will post pictures). In the future I will be posting photos of my D.A. Also, in future blogs my W.I.P. Genswick/Witch hunters force will have a spot. As well as a planned Imperial Fists Scout army. So, if you happen to stumble upon this blog before I post anything, or put a link in my B&C Profile, then, just gimme a couple weeks.