Despoil This: Abbadon gets some colour

Abbadon WIP

Very quick update today- Abbadon was in dire need of some paint before the weekend, as Ash is also attending the "Final Fifth" tourney at Goodgames and will be using him. So, with some spare time in between painting Orks i managed to lay down some basic colours as well as getting his sword blade pretty much done. The photo didnt turn out exactly how he looks, there's a lot more "pop" in RL compared to the pic but its fairly representative of where Im at. The trim is all Burnished Gold, with a Devlan Mud Wash, with a few bits picked out in Boltgun metal that are washed with Badab Black. I did his face in one of the whitey stone colour Foundations (cant remember the name?) with a wash of Gryphonne Sepia followed by selective applications of Devlan and Badab to provide shading and depth here and there. Pretty happy so far. Hoping that he'll be able to crush some mortals come Saturday, as his last outing was the 40,000pt Apocalypse last year where he really didnt get to do anything.



Eeeeeeevill!!!!

   

Fifth Edition- the Final Hurrah + more Ork stuff

So today i'm going to rattle on about something that the rest of the 40K community is no doubt talking about themselves, the imminent release of 6th Edition. Its now been announced that the release date for this latest incarnation will be the 30th of June, with pre-orders having started yesterday (23rd) for most of the bits and pieces- normal rulebooks, collectors and gamers editions, and all the new tape measures, dice, psychic cards etc... all in all, its going to be a huge launch.

So what of the game itself? Well its interesting to see that a lot of the rumours were true, or at least partially true. Here's a small selection of the things i'm most looking forward to.

1. Close combat weapons now have an AP value. This is awesome. Ease of wounding is still handled by the strength of the attacker, but actually defeating armour is based on what is in their hands, as before, but- there is no on/off switch like the old power weapon rule. And if the rumours are true, power axes/ swords are AP3, and Powerfist/Klaws etc are AP2, meaning that whilst powerweapons are still around they represent the top of a scale that winds all the way back to AP6, though every CC weapon in the game. I'll be very interested to see what AP they give to Chainswords and Uge Choppas for my Dark Angel and ORk armies respectively. Oh, and i'm seeing Terminator survivability in close combat becoming pretty impressive against some armies.
2. Grenades are now thrown (or can be, as well as as CC against vehicles /entering combat?) This one harks back to 2nd edition, where the grenades had some of the wildest effects imaginable- I vividly recall the crazy results that Hallucinogen grenades used to inflict on my foes, or the smoke, plasma or blind grenades.. Whilst I'm not expecting the return of all these different grenade types, what I'm hearing is a return to offensive use of the humble hand grenade. Hey, if you can shoot em from a grenade launcher, you should be able to throw them at a target as well.
3. Wounds from shooting being taken from the front back. Thank you! One for realism- hit by a torrent of firepower, your troops at the front take the brunt of the attack. This is how it happens in real life!! No idea on whether the special, heavies or sgts (etc) fare, as normally these guys miraculously survive (or it represents their companions picking up their wargear?) with generic plebs taking the hits.And the general removal of the whole wound allocation shenangigans is a breath of fresh air, does one guy holding a different weapon to his teammate next to him make him more/less susceptible to being removed as a casualty? No, it does, and never should have. So chalk one up for a sense of 'realism' (if you can apply that to a game set 38,000 years in the future).
4. Psychic powers on the comeback!! To be honest, unless you've played Fantasy or can remember 2nd edition you may not really understand until the new edition hits. Psychic powers are some of the most fun elements to use on the battlefields of the future, and adds another element to the game. 5th edition kind of dulled it down to 'supporting powers' and 'shooting powers', but im hopeful of some more enviroment/game changing effects.
5. Psychology. Word on the street is that Terror (and maybe Fear?) are coming back, meaning certain actions against a Terror/Fear causing unit can only be accomplished after a succesful Ld test. Again, really really good. Guardsmen (or anyone else TBH) should not  be able to assault a Bloodthirster without some apprehension and the possibility of standing around wetting themselves. Prior editions only had you test after you lost combat, now the door swings both ways (again).

And thats all I can really think of just now for 6th Ed. Wont go into any negatives, as I have no real gripes so far, and its not really my style. If you want to go see what all the ranting is about, try any of the major 40K forums :)

Moar Dakka!!!

Its been a busy week for me here, with some illness and late nights with the baby, as well as some very slow/delayed progress on my Orks. I've now completed my Deff Dread build, and was able to set the bottom arm mounts up with magnets, so i can swap the weapons out as needed. For now its running with an extra CCW (3 total) and a Skorcha (heavy flamer). I've only just been able to start throwing some base colours and check patterns on, and TBH i think this is how it'll stay for a while.

Conversely, i've finished the construction of a second Rokkit-equipped Buggy/Trakk, once again piloted by a Rokkit-boy with a packpack full of ammo. I've almost got enough spare parts kicking around for a third, except i need another 6 tank wheels- a full 'skwadron' of three is my goal.  For now these guys are running basic colours, and the drivers havent been painted up yet- they're just blu-tacked in place.

      
And i've also gotten round to adding magnets to all my Ork infantry- they can now be transported quickly and safely on a metal serving or baking tray, instead of jumble up in a box like they've had to endure previously. This took quite a while to do, as I had to cut small sqaures of plasticard (about 1.5mm thick) to space the magnets close enough to the bottom of the base so they'd grab solidly. Im pretty impressed at how strong they are, none of them move at all, even with the tray inverted or hanging sideways. Eventually all the Orks will be magnetised, and i'll move them around on a custom built wooden carrier tray, using a 1mm sheetmetal surface, but this will do for now.

Next up will be a small Bat-rep from a 'Final Fifth' tourney on the 30th at one of the LGS's, which will be my last game of 5th edition- its 4 games at 1200pts, with the emphasis on fun, i'm really looking forward to it. I've also pre-paid for my copy of the 6th edition rulebook, which i'm picking up there as well. All in all, its gonna be a very exciting weekend!!

Cheers,
Tempest

Babies, Birthday presents and Boyz

Hey everyone! My first post in almost a month, it feels like forever- i've been off looking after my daughter, who was born on the 2nd May. Honestly, she's the best thing ever, I absolutely adore her! Sleep can be hard to come by, and its all a bit of a learning curve, but hey that's what we signed up for! So the updates may be a bit more sporadic compared to before, but I'll keep moving forward with everything.

Moving along to the hobby side of things- I've learned to paint in the small windows of opportunity that are given to me in between changing nappies/clothes and other baby tasks, and to be honest I think I'm getting quicker at painting.

Ulrik The Slayer- James' B'day present

I picked up Ulrik earlier in the year from an eBay seller, with the intent of rejuvenating him as a birthday present for my mate James as he has a Space Wolf army and also as something a bit different to try. This is the 'mystery guest' i hinted at a while ago. When I received the mini I found that the prior paint-job was extremely thick- most of the detail was obscured with a black/grey/gold scheme from a long time ago. Ulrik took a bath in the Simple Green for a while before being rinsed off and then had his mold lines cleaned up. I then spray undercoated him black and over the last few nights I gave him this quasi-retro paintjob. Its about 50% faithful to the GW 'Eavy Metal incarnation and the other half is what i wanted to try. For example, his grenade is painted green- the majority of 2nd edition marines had green grenades, and he's a 40k 2nd edition mini ('94 or '95 i think?) so thats what he got.


Although I gave him some shiny armour highlights and a glow for his Plas pistol I tried to limit his colour palette and use washes for the gold and the helmet and skulls as James' own army is done with a limited palette (which looks really good!) and I wanted him to tie in with them- this is also why his base isn't done as James is yet to decide on how to base his army.

So anyways, happy (belated) birthday mate, I hope to see Ulrik across the tabletop sometime soon...









Ork Rokkit Wartrakk/Buggy!!

As is the case from time to time, I stumble across some inspiring Ork scratchbuilds on the net, but I've never been taken with a mini quite like this. Its one guy's take on the Wartrakk/buggy from the PC game "Dawn of War", and the instructions for building it can be found at the following link: Irondog Studios- Wartrakk Tutorial. I'd also recommend that you check the rest of the website out, there is some unreal projects and commission works that really fire off the imagination.

Its actually quite simple to construct, provided you've got the parts and some patience, but the results are awesome. My first assembled trakk here is going to have a rokkit boy driver- he reloads the rokkits from his backpack supply- and I feel its a decent use for the three rokkit boyz I bought recently- I could pay the 16pts for a boy with Rokkit Launcha in an Ork Mob, and he may never get close enough to a viable target, however for 40pts I get a rokkit equipped buggy which is a fast vehicle, the rokkits are twinlinked and as a vehicle its fearless. I think a skwadron of 3 for 120pts is great- cheaper than the 45pts for a similarly armed Deffkopta (although I'll most likely run a few of these as well in the same list). I also have the option of giving them the "wartrakk" option which limits them to 12" only but allows for re-rolls on failed terrain tests- I'll possibly use this for city/urban games. These guys will be tasked with popping transports, hitting enemy MCs, or swoop in to contest objectives on the last turn, whereas the Koptas will be used more to alpha-strike or tie up heavy weapons squads.
 
Progress on "Da Ladz"

In the small windows of opportunity I get some days I've been getting some painting done on my Deathskull Boyz. I was always resigned to the fact that I wasnt going to make it to Wintercon this year due to my Daughter's birth as well as my Orks not being painted enough. However I'm thinking that ANUCON in mid-late October will be achievable, being that its 4 and a half months away and only 1500pts (compared to Wintercon's 1850). While 350 points isnt much, consider that my 30strong boyz mobs only come to 245pts- 350pts is a huge amount where horde armies are concerned.

So this is where I stand so far- 16 boyz done (a few need some washes and small details done), from a total of 60 for the two mobz- at least I'm now over a quarter done. Once these guys are sorted I then have 9 Killa Kans to complete as well as a Deffdread (who is currently en-route from the USA), 2 Deffkoptas, a KFF Big Mek and a full 15 Burna Boyz. So I've got a fairly busy 4 months ahead of me...     

Mephiston Red- aka 'Hotrod Red'- new paint review

Went for a small trip to GW yesterday to pick up the latest White Dwarf, hoping for some Dark Angel hints, and after a quick flick through Im only seeing possibly hints of an Ork-related happening on 2 June? It could be a new Codex (the last one was a while back?) or some sort of Ork-themed party at GW- there's a full single page and double page spread regarding this, but with very minimal information. So who knows whats really happening? To be honest, i'd like to see some more Orkish goodness- I still dont think I have enough Deathskulls (roughly 3200pts straight WYSIWYG so far, including Stompa), and even if the base mechanics of them dont change then at least some new models or units would be nice.

However, I digress- where this is going is that without any tangible evidence concerning the boys of the First Legion at this time I'm feeling less inclined to put brush to mini to finish my two Tactical and one Devastator squads. Not that I dont love them, but I feel that variety is the spice of life. I spent a good 15 minutes of so discussing the new paint range with the staff, as well as giving the "base" (Foundations) and Dry paints a spin, and so far everything i've seen has been fantastic. Ceramite White has exceptional coverage over black, I think i'll be getting some of this to clean up my DA tank chapter symbols, and the myriad greens available in the 'layers' (ie normal paint) section makes me warm and fuzzy on the inside as a Dark Angel and Ork player.

However the colour that drew my attention the most was the replacement for Mechrite Red, most appropriately called 'Mephiston Red' after the Blood Angel's Chief Librarian (know on the Internetz as 'Space Dracula'). It seems that GW has realised that the main reason for Mechrite's use is to paint up vibrant red power armour, so this Base colour is now a lot closer to the old superceded Blood Red (now replaced with the very close Wild Rider Red- like Blood Red, with some orange thrown in). So I bought a pot of Mephiston Red, and decided to re-base coat my Stormraven Gunship which had previously been given a 50% coverage of Mechrite. And it turned out to be very, very interesting. Here's how its sitting after a coat of the new paint.  



Tony Stark: "Tell you what. Throw a little hotrod red in there".
Jarvis: "Yes, that should help you keep a low profile".



Now I dont want to speak ill of the dead, but im glad Mechrite is no more. Although it had phenomenal coverage, I always found the colour to be very muted and dull, a view that the GW staff shared with me. The main issue that stems from this is that in order to paint up a Blood Angels, Saim Hann Eldar or Evil Sunz Ork army one had to put down a base of Mechrite that was basically just going to end up being 95% or more covered by a lighter and brighter red. This basically meant that for all the wondeful time savings of the Foundation paint- quick to apply, great coverage etc- you were eventually going to go back over the mini again with another coat to bring up the red. In my opinion its heaps easier to throw down a brighter base colour and spend 30 seconds applying a Shade (Wash) to change the base colour. Dull down in 30 seconds and get natural shading with a Shade, vs apply a brighter colour which could take 10+ minutes on a marine? I know which i'd prefer.

The other issue I had with Mechrite (and a lot of the Foundations) was grainyness- most likely due to the higher amount of pigment- even when applied watered down a touch the finish seemed grainy and textured. Oh well, as I said: Mechrite is gone. So with that, how does Mephiston Red perform?



'Cant say im sorry to see it go. Meph Red is dynamite IMO.



Really well as it would seem. The paint consistency in the pot appears thinner than the prior Foundations, which partially goes to explain why it doesnt do a 100% coverage on black straight up, however a second pass completely covers and the colour comes right out. I was also very happy to see that the colour pops out enough without being that eye-searing 'Early 90s GW red'*, I can also see my entire Blood Angels army being based in this scheme. The current GW Blood Angels painting Recommendation is Mephiston Red (Base)> Carroburg Crimson (Shade)> Edge Highlight-Evil Sun Scarlet (Layer)> Highlight- Wild Rider Red (Layer). I think i'll be playing around with all these colours to determine the best scheme for me, but either way I'm hoping to get something that 'pops' on the tabletop.  

So, until my beloved First Legion gets a new book I'm going to be painting red, red and more red- a change is as good as a holiday, and I like the look and feel of the BA Codex so they'll be getting a look in on the tabletop. And while im on this very tack, here's my most recent Sanguinary Guard paintup- i've decided against the NMM look for a true-metallic + shades (washes!) combo- they'll end up with some gold highlights on this to bring the bling back up. This takes about 4 layers to achieve, vs the 15+ for the NMM gold... 

Inconspicuous?

*And yes, I am that old...



Epic Titans!!! And a well known titan-weapon from the Internets...

So, here's a litte rant regarding my latest side project (aka '40K-progress derailer' hahaha), the rebuilding of a few old Epic miniatures. For those of you that are unaware, Epic is essentially Warhammer 40,000 but in 6mm scale- thats right, a single infantryman is 6mm tall, compared to the 25-28 mm of 40K. Entire squads are stuck onto single square or rectangular bases, and move, shoot and assualt all as the one entity. Combat on this scale also lends itself to the use of massive armour columns, superheavy tanks as well as my favourite- the Titans. These walking monsters can decimate opposing armies in shooting and close combat, and are such an iconic image that I have collected a few across the years. The hardest part, to be honest, is actually finding someone to have a game of Epic with, although I've found recently that Canberra has a very decent sized Epic fanbase so here's hoping i'll get some games in soon!

My old Dark Angels Epic army was essentially what came straight out of the "Epic:40,000" box set (from 1997), with the addition of 4 metal Dreadnoughts and a very recently purchased metal Thunderhawk gunship. However, as is the way of things, I decided to change their colourscheme and chapter orientation- so they've now taken a bath into the Simple Green, and have been there for around two weeks now. Initial cleanup on a few units has been extremely promising- the paint comes off with minimal scrubbing with a light toothbrush and some running water, and my earlier fears regarding infantry snapping off at the legs during cleanup appears unfounded- it simply doesnt happen. So, with my recent purchases of 40 1988-era 'Space Marine" tactical marines and the cleaned up ones from my prior DA army i'll soon have a large assembled army ready for undercoat and paint. Takes roughly 10 minutes per base to paint up if you really, really take your time, including highlights- thats how tiny they are!

A selection of Titans, for your viewing pleasure... 

MARS-PATTERN WARLORD

Here's another work in progress- this Warlord Titan was purchased along with another two around five years prior,  they've had multiple cleanup sessions to get all the old Enamel paint off (takes a lot longer in Simple Green, but most things that dissolve Enamel arent good for plastic either), and this one has now been re-undercoated and the arms and guns have been glued solidly onto the carapace. What i've been going for is a build for a 'standard' Warlord under the GW Epic: Armageddon rules (the latest version), and my others will have mix 'n' match loadouts for games using the Net EA rules. So, this guy is rocking the 1988 weapon equivalents of a  gatling blaster and volcano cannon, however i decided his pointy short 'defence lasers' on the carapace did not look like the double-barrelled twin turbolaser destructors they were meant to be. So, with a lot of care and a bit of luck I cut off the existing barrels, and then chopped up a twin barrel setup for both guns- these are made from a Tau burst cannon, and look fantastic in my opinion!! They arent glued in place as yet, i'm going to paint the carapace up before they are permanently attached.  I'll also be removing the multi-fit mounting lugs under/on top of all guns where they arent needed anymore.  

 IMPERATOR

And here's a mini i've had for a long time- the biggest and baddest of the Emperor's land-based weapons- the Emperor Class 'Imperator' Titan. I originally bought him from a friend unassembled, and i threw him together in a single night and then spent only a few hours painting him up- suffice to say its a claggy, thick and nasty job (but hey, i was young and stupid...). Also, along the way I decided that Epic wasnt for me, and the Imperator donated his Plasma Annihilator to one of my Dark Angels Dreadnoughts, cut down shorter (and thus, never  reclaimable for Epic...). With my recent 'repaint and rebuild' bent I decided the Imperator needed a complete rebuild, and to this end I would need a replacement Plasma Annihilator. I ended up sourcing one through eBay, but thought there was something very familiar about it.. turns out, the actual PA I bought is the one used in the Warhammer 40K Online Wiki... Seriously- if you Google Image Search "Plasma Annihilator", the first image that comes up is a claggy thick painted red/silver poor excuse for a titan weapon- that exact gun is sitting on my desk at home waiting for a dip into the greenstuff... yay, quasi-famous weapon for my titan.... hahahaha!

BANELORD

And just for some completeness, and to make this less of an Imperium-fest, here's my Khorne Banelord Titan- essentially a close combat/short range Warlord, it uses metal arm weapons, metal head (with a minigun coming out of the mouth!!!), metal tail and metal missile rack and banner poles! But, its the same plastic warlord chassis as the other ones, im always impressed at how much variation could be acheived with some 'add ons'. Hoping to get a small Chaos warband assembled and painted soon (I have the minis), and then get some games in as well...











WARHOUND SCOUT TITAN

This little fella is the smallest Titan type available, I purchased him on eBay with another matching one (Warhounds can operate in packs of two), both with these awesome freehand serpent iconography and handpainted banners. Unfortunately, in moving stuff around i've misplaced the other Warhound's leg (it'd fallen off), so i'm temporarily down to one until it resurfaces. They both have the original style 40mm square base- later ones have round 40K Terminator-sized bases. If push comes to shove i'll source another leg online and paintmatch it to the original scheme...   

Possible delay with next post??

Thought I'd also mention that this may be my last post for a little while, as my wife is due to give birth in less than two weeks time- meaning the baby could come along at any point from now! This means i'll most likely be spending a lot of my free time getting last minute things in order and wrapping up/ handing over things at work for my 5 or so weeks off work. But, who knows, my time off may allow me a bit more freedom to get some hobby work and blog updates done (in between nappy changes :P).

Anyhow, i'll be back, sooner or later.

Tempest!

Simple Green vs 'Simple Orange'

Thought i'd post up a quick one today, concerning the product 'Simple Green' as used by a lot of wargamers for paintstripping. 

I've previously been able to get hold of the dark green coloured concentrate at Bunnings (my local hardware store), and had found it to be extremely potent at removing years worth of paint- thick, thin, undercoated or no- it all came off with some time submerged in it. In no way did it affect plastics, and didnt even un-stick previously superglued parts- its extremely good at what it does.

However after I finished my last bottle I found that Bunnings had stopped stocking the dark green concentrate, and all I could find was a bright orange concentrate instead, which is easier to see through and has a orangey/citrus smell to it. After some google searching I couldnt find any real evidence either way to say if it was the same thing as the green concentrate, or even as potent/unharming to plastics.

So, with a bottle of newly purchased "Simple Orange" I threw my old Azrael mini in as well as a surplus plastic space marine, and waited for two days. And the results? After a quick high-pressure blast from the garden hose all the paint is gone from both minis!

So, there is absolutely no difference from the dark green stuff in regards to performance and treatment of plastics. And even better, you can see right into the concentrate to view submerged minis (check paint stripping progress) whereas the old dark green stuff would obscure your view. So, win win!

For anyone looking for this stuff, its bright orange, and comes with a spray bottle shring-wrapped beside the main 2L concentrate in a 'pack', for $20AU. Cannot recommend highly enough. Also, to allay any fears people may have, ignore the 'dont use on plastic trim' comment on the bottle- doesnt apply to the plastic used in miniatures!

So to round this post off, here's some of my tips for using simple green/orange/whatever..

•  Use a cheap plastic see-through food container with a snap on lid. If left open to the air the SG will evaporate over time, as well as lose its colour and turn clear like water. Not sure if this changes its paintstripping abilities though. When enclosed it will holds its colour and level almost indefinately.
• Blast minis under a tap or garden hose to remove paint (within reason- delicate stuff would be better lightly scrubbed with a toothbrush), then dunk in fresh water for a while. Remove later and let dry in the sun.
• For really thick paintjobs its best to scrub whatever you can get off with a medium stiffness toothbrush then drop the mini back in. My Warlord Titans took three extended baths to get the paint off, although this was mainly due to them having enamel paintjobs- SG is better suited to water-based acrylics, but most solvents that are good for enamels are no good for plastic.

Until next time,
Tempest       

Persistence pays off

Welcome back for another update!

I've been steadily plugging away at both my Deathskulls and Dark Angels for the last couple of weeks, getting between half and hour and three hours painting in most evenings, and its really paying dividends. I've now got 10 Boyz painted up to a nice standard (see previous posts), and have completed all the basic green power armour on my two Tactical squads and one Devastator squad. Its hard to see at the start of a painting task exactly how you will make it to the end- the job in front of you can look insurmountable, but with discipline any job can be completed. And so it is with all these previously untouched minis that they are now starting to come along really well!

So for the Orks thats 10 from 60 boyz done- exactly 1/6th, or a third of a full mob. Its taken a bit longer than expected, as I think my initial "45 mins to an hour" projection per boy was at the very least highly optimistic. The extended paint time come from me now using four different browns for the clothing and straps and three washes for the skin, being Devlan and Gryphonne all over, then Badab applied into the deepest recesses of the face and arm muscles. I couldnt be happier with the result I have a really good rich green skin tone going on, the colours all over the orks interact well and they all have random armour plating damage and checks/dags in blue and white. And, to be honest i'm getting quicker at painting, and finding new techniques and colour/wash combos that speed things up. The three boys in the picture above are part of the first batch of ten (which includes a nob and big shoota boy)

Just to show you how overkill I've gone, here's the selection of paints i'm using for the boyz mob (and will use on the rest of the army as well), and I'm even missing Gryphonne Sepia from the shot as well.... so its easily 20+ colours, but im 'only' (ha!) using about 12-13 per mini so they maintain a random colouring.

Speaking of which, im enjoying the yellows, reds, oranges and other 'spot' colours that draw the eye, they contrast nicely with the blue/white panoply on the rest of the armour, and realyl brings out that "looted" look to show that the lads will steal anything that isnt nailed down! Hoping to go a bit further with the Kans, Vehicles and the Stompa, with some partial Imperial insignia showing on larger plates of sheet metal to show that they've been looted to effect battle repairs.

Will try to get some progress pics up of the Dark Angel Squads, although they still aren't much to look at just yet- dark green and  black power armoured marines!

Next up: things are going to get a little bit 'Epic'!! Yep, we are going to go small small small scale!

Until then, cheers!
Tempest :)