Welcoming three new boys to Mektown!

 

The beginning of Mektown.

So for this update, I was planning on showing off more Bretonnian Knights, but instead we're taking a ride into Mektown! On a whim, Richard and I decided to put together some MDF terrain I had bought years ago designed for Warhammer 40k Orks. I've got quite a bit of terrain to put together, and I selected to put together the Grub Hut and the Grog Tank, white Richard put together the more difficult Ork Lookout Tower.

Grub Hut.

Grog Tank.

Yoofs on the Lookout.

Of course I wasn't done there, pulling out a can of black spray, I sprayed them both top to bottom, inside and out, and begun to dry brush them all silver. During this, Richard was getting a crash course on painting orks, with these three orks as the test subjects. While he was painting his ork, I was fixating on painting the terrain, along with painting two of the models alongside him.

Richards Yoof in the centre, the others are mine.

The centre ork is the one Richard painted, and we used all Army Painter paints to paint them. They are old models from the old Gorkamorka starter set from way back in 1997. These models I like simply because they are a mix of the old goofy Space Ork models and the new direction that Orks went when the new Orks went around this time.

Yoof with Slugga and Choppa.

Yoof with Six Shoota and Knife.

Yoof with Slugga and Knuckles.

They are quite a bit small for this terrain though, but that's fine since they will mostly be used as Yoofs for any mob they join, young inexperienced orks who need to cut their teef and prove they are tough!

Yoofs are in charge!

The Nob kicking them out of his shop.

Small skirmish between the Nob and prospective Yoofs.

The terrain was quite simple to paint, with red and white and green to sprinkle some colour around on panels and the signage. Bronze was also dry brushed sparingly around to simulate rusting to an extent, and even to paint the grating and some panels too. Considering this all took one afternoon from construction to finished paintjob, I'm quite pleased with the results.

Until next time!

Some Loonies and their Giant Friend.

 

I've continued my quest to flesh out my Orcs and Goblins war host, giving me more options to field wacky and zany units on the field. With my recent completion of some Night Goblin Short Bow regiment being completed, I suddenly found myself with too few Fanatics to populate my regiments with. This is where these guys come in.

I initially was going to 3D print some fanatics to add to my force, but I remembered having bought a box of these guys a long time ago, and so I dug them out of the pile of shame and put them together, trying to make sure I used different heads to my three existing models that I painted a long time ago.

These three were painted using only Vallejo paints, in my mission to transition from using Army Painter paints to Vallejo, I found it worked quite well and while I'm still on the hunt for certain colours to match my previous colours, the Vallejo line more than makes up with excellent coverage.

This giant Mangler Squig duo was initially spray painted with Army Painter Dragon Red, which was well passed it's best before date. I didn't know spray cans had a shelf life, but when I sprayed the model, it came out reddish brown. I ended up base coating the whole model with Vallejo Model Flat Red, and dry brushing it with a mixture of yellow and Flat Red to highlight.

The goblins were painted the same way I painted my other goblins, with Vallejo Flat Green as the skin base, washed with GW Biel Tan wash. I've since begun using the GW washes for my shading purposes simply because I much prefer the paint pots. I've also noticed that the GW recipe doesn't stain as heavily as the Army Painter or Vallejo washes, so I'm able to retain more of the original colour, which goes great with fantasy models.

Till next time!

Two Flavours of Knights

 

So these two were on my to-do list for a while now, and I've finally completed them. The Bretonnian Knight is a 3D print from Highlands Miniatures, and is one of ten total knights that makes up a full regiment. My plan is to paint each one of them uniquely in traditional Bretonnian fashion.      

The base will be the only thing that will match in the whole regiment, and it is an experiment on my part. The base is Vallejo Model Colour Beige Brown, then dry brushed Vallejo Model Colour Yellow Ochre, followed by a Citadel Agarax Earth Shade Wash. The rim of the base is also Vallejo Model Colour Yellow Ochre. A simple green flock application completes the base.

The Goblin Wolf Boss is also a 3D print, but from Avatars of War, and is painted in a similar fashion to the rest of my Orc and Goblin army, except using Vallejo Model Colour instead of Army Painter paints. The base is still using the old Citadel colours of Steel Legion Drab, Dryad Bark, and Eldar Flesh.

I'm going to use this bad boy to hunt down war machines and snipe wizards. He'll have the Shield of Ptolos to give him a 1+ armour save against shooting, and Nibbla's 'Itty Ring to give him a bound spell call 'EadButt. He'll also have a spear and bow so he isn't totally useless if there is no enemy wizard on the field.

Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!

 Panzers and Tigers

So I might have finished the Space Marines component of the box set I started a few years ago, but while I was working on them, and a few other things, I also finished these nine WW2 tanks, more specifically five Panzer IV tanks in late war configuration, and four Tiger 1 in late war configuration.

I started out with a prime through the air brush of Vallejo German Dark Yellow. This is followed up by stippling Vallejo Chocolate Brown and Vallejo Reflective Green in camo patters. Once completed, a quick wash of light brown and a dry brush of Vallejo Model Colour Middlestone completes the majority of the tank.

The crew are basic German uniform colours, Vallejo Model Colour German Field Grey, skin is Vallejo Model Colour Flat Flesh and the leads and headphones is simply a black. The tools are Vallejo Model Colour Beige Brown and a silver.

The tracks were initially painted a black, then dry brushed a silver, but more importantly they are washed by Citadel Agarax Earthshade quite heavily. The crew are also washed in the same shade, along with the tools too.

The decals are old Plastic Soldier Company decals, and they are still in good condition, and transferred quite well.

Another project ticked off, and more grey removed from the pile of shame.

The Youngest Wolf Lord

 

Ragnar Blackmane, the Black Wolf, Wolf Lord of the Blackmanes Great Company and the youngest and most promising Wolf Lord in the Space Wolves Space Marine chapter. Originally a Firstborn Astartes, during the Psychic Awakening, in the Era Indomitus, Ragnar fought to a standstill the mighty Ghazkull Thraka, even decapitating the Ork Warlord. 

In the process he was mortally wounded, to the point that even interment within a dreadnought wouldn't save his life, his only chance of surviving his wounds would be passing the Rubicon Primaris. Ragnar survived the gruelling
surgeries and healed his wounds. Upon recovering, he discovered that the Ork prophet, Ghazkull Thraka managed to cheat death yet again, and is set on tracking down the Beast and kill him once and for all.

So I finished this model separately from the other Space Wolves Infiltrators, but I did prime and shade it at the same time as the Infiltrators. I experimented a little with contrasts a bit, mostly trying out silver covered in paint to see how it shows up. I ended up not liking how the gold came out, using a yellow contrast over a silver, it looking like a sickly gold. I ended up painting the gold on, and using a orange contrast to shade it and it looks great I think.

The cloak was initially going to be pinkish, but I decided to use a more yellowish cream colour, and It looks more natural. The colour in particular was Vallejo Model Colour Tan Yellow. Quite a nice colour with great coverage, and only needed to coats to get a nice smooth finish. The sword was coloured using two contrast paints to get that transition, Citadel Contrast Iyanden Yellow and Gryph-Hound Orange. It worked really well and was very easy to accomplish.

Here he is with his Infiltrators, on the hunt for that rascally Ork.

Warhammer Armies Project!

 

So with the sudden desire to play Warhammer Fantasy again, and seeing various YouTube battle reports playing this version of fantasy battle, I've decided to head back to the old world and battle it out on the table once again.

As with anything, its not entirely perfect balance wise, with somethings getting a buff and somethings getting a nerf. Shooting has been buffed in a substantial way, with elf shooting or BS 4 shooting being very good, and war machines like bolt throwers being invaluable assets on the table. 

Elves aren't the killing powerhouses they were before in all phases of the game, and horde armies aren't the tar pits they were before. The game seems more balanced than eighth edition was, but there are still issues that need ironing out.

Onto the hobby, with Richard, Joe and I playing this game, I've had the desire to continue working on my Orcs and Goblins. The game has pushed me to get some more shooting into my army, and so I completed a unit of 20 Night Goblin Archers.

Night Goblins have always been easy to paint, with one can of black spray primer doing most of the work. The skin was done using my old army painter colour method, but since I've been actively trying to use only Vallejo Model Colour paints, I've since discovered an excellent substitute for goblin green, Vallejo Model Colour Flat Green.

Works really well, since I used to to fix any mistakes on the skin with it. In the future, next time I paint some Orcs and Goblins, I will try using it as a base, shading it with a green wash and highlighting back up with this again. 

The Yellow is done with Vallejo Model Colour Flat Yellow, which has a decent application and coverage, even over black. It's then washed with Citadel Agarax Earthshade, which has been used on the skulls, teeth, wood and bows. The bows and wood are Vallejo Model Colour Beige Brown, and the straps on the bow is Vallejo Model Colour German Camo Beige.

The arrow fletchers and mushrooms are painted Vallejo Model Colour Flat Red, with the arrow fletchers and silver washed Nuln Oil. If you're seeing a pattern, then yes, I am extremely impressed with these flat colours from vallejo. They have incredible coverage, and are quite vibrant even after a wash. I'm a big fan of the Model Colour line from Vallejo and it's why I'm trying to use mostly the Model Colour range going forward.

Before I completed the regiment, I decided to ease myself back into painting with these three Night Goblin hero models. The left is a Warlord, the middle is a Shaman who's going Super Sayajin, and the right is a Battle Standard Bearer. These are nice models, with the left one being an old sculpt from Games Workshop, in metal, and the middle and right being resin sculpts from Forge World.

They were great to paint, and they easily fit into the army both in theme and usability on the battlefield. Fitting them into the archer unit is also a breeze, and they look great leading a unit on the table.

The plan next is to 3D print some fanatics for them, and to complete the Mangler Squig for an all Night Goblin army I'm working towards.

Until next time.