2015 a year in review.

Once again it is that time of the year where we secretly pat yourself on the back under the pretence of looking back over the previous year.

This one is going to be easy.

The first six months of the year can be summed up in a single word MORDHEIM!!!!!!!!

Painting Mordheim,

creating mordheim terrain, 

I have a cunning plan!

I have been trying to paint. . . . . . I really have!

It's not like the old days were my job was a doss and I could find a quiet corner to paint. My new job is brilliant but it is pedal to the metal the second I walk in the door (usually 7.15am) to the second I leave (about 5.30pm to pick up the kids).

By the time I get home the light is shot and I cannot paint the figures on my painting table to the standard I desire.

So what to do?

Well, I have pulled out this lot. . . . . 

It's my Demi company of Space Marines.

Do I play 40K . . . . . . NO!

Do I plan to. . . . . . . Not really!

But I do sort of like the look of Space Marines, I find Imperial Guard far more interesting within the 40K universe but I figure this lot painted up to a basic table top standard should look ok.

I have made a start already for Space Hulk and there are these fellas done already.

So it looks like I have about 44 figures to finish.

Not going to set a target of finishing them all but any I get done are chips from the lead mountain.

Fingers crossed.

Visit to Warhammer World. Part 4 of 4. Inquisimunda Kill Teams. The Battle of Vigos.

Inquisitor Pen Drago stared into the dawn mists enveloping the abandoned Tau base. His gaze was so intent, it was like he was trying to part the mists by force of will alone!

He could feel the indominitable will of the Marines arrayed to the left and right of him. Their pearlescent, blue, armour blending perfectly with the pre-dawn twilight.

ohhhhhhh .. . . . .Misty!

Two young Scouts broke off from the main group and disappeared into the gloom of the surrounding forest. They were trying hard to mimic the stern indifference of their older kin but all their brethren could sense their nervousness!

Rumours persisted of a super weapon called 'The Angel' hidden under the abandoned Tau base, which loomed out of the mist as they trudged ahead.

Pen Drago's mission was to investigate with a small team of Marines to keep the mission covert.

That had been the intent but upon exiting the Warp Gate, several other Shuttle, exhaust trails had been detected. To make matters worse, planet wide scans had shown that a Genestealer coven had infested the central tower! Was this coincidence or signs of a higher intelligence?

Drago had spent a life time travelling the galaxy, fighting all manner of Xenos, he no longer believed in coincidence.

Then the strangest of instances. Another Imperial shuttle had been detected on the dark side of the planet!

More investigators?

If so, were they to be trusted?

All these thoughts were hurled from his mind as warning Klaxons blared through the space vessel! The ships' crew instantly snapped to high alert as a Nurgle Marines', shuttle blasted out of the Warp Gate, careering towards the Planet surface at breakneck speed!

With his hand forced, Pen Drago Ordered the pilot to give chase! The race was on!

Death Race 40,000. Part 2.

A while back Lano of the Essex Legion was talking about running a Gorka Morka race for Orctober. This was just after my visit to BOYL 15 so I directed him to the Oldhammer forum and left him to it.

Then strange rumours began to circulate round the interweb of  a homage to Death Race this Sunday past;

 Death Race 40K, a balls out, pedal to the metal, DAKKA DAKKA, full auto, nitros burning, tire shredding, buttock puckering,  white knuckle, full throttle ride to death or glory!!!!!!

Right then. . . . . . Where do I sign up?

Mutie challenge completed and another sacrifice to the Emperor!

After my 6am kit bash I decided to set a Mutie challenge for the other members of the Armoury Gaming club.

This morning I managed to finish off my entry.

Taking inspiration from several Oldhammerer sources I have used a Gnobblar body as the main component and then delved into the bits box for other parts.

For this fella the additional bits are from the leftovers of my Titanforge Croc Riders. The helmet and brass barrel just fitted perfectly!

I have a number of these little fellas on the go and figure I will use them as cannon fodder for my Inquisimunda War band.

The plan is to use them to charge towards the enemy and absorb incoming fire, so the Inquisitor Lord can stride forward unhindered.

If any of them survive, their job is then to blow themselves up, taking something bigger with them.

Now the numbers. . . .

Miniatures painted / sold this year = 201
Miniatures bought this year =40

467 miniatures to go!

6am kit bash

Eyes pinged open at 6am this morning (I guess my brain thought it was Monday!).

Rather then lay there staring at the ceiling until the kids woke up I snuck into the office.

Within 20 minutes it looked like this. . . . . . 

Dr. Gostellos new exhibit. Brother Herq the strong man.

'Oceans filled with tears. Shed by the angels weeping. For souls fell in war'

Brother Herq had always been the sensitive type, fully embracing the majesty of the tea ceremony as much as the hours of practise with the power sword.

He knew the other initiates sniggered at him behind his back because of his love of composing Haiku poetry, but none dare insult him to his face because of his proficiency with the blade.

Of course the Star Warriors had come to the temple. Of course he had been selected. Of course he had hated every second of it!

Dr. Gostellos Psycho Circus. First Jalopy completed.

Dr. Gostello could not help but give a smug little smile "Not so bloody 'Smart' now are you Billy!" he thought.

The night raid could not have gone better! Of course the new bullet holes will need some work with the polyfilla and the blood will need washing out the back, but now Billy will know to pay his gambling dept's when their due!

OY stop messing about!!! You've back to work on Tuesday!!

I know. . . . I know! I'm back to work on Tuesday and should have spent the summer prepping for my new SEN role but. . . . . 

This is so much more fun then lesson prep!

One day I will grow up. . . . . Honest!

Here are some WIP shots of Herq the new strong man and an update of Dr. Gostellos first transporter.

First off here is where I left off

Since then I have discovered Games Workshop technical paints; Typhus corrosion and Ryza rust and now the truck looks like this. . . .

Dr. Gostello's new exhibit, Reaper Ape X, super villain. and other chips from the lead mountain.

So today I finished up Dr. Gostello's new exhibit; Brother Beringei Graueri the cyber Gorilla.

I have decided that Brother Beringei is a Space Marine from Necromunda. Unfortunately it was found he was actually agrophobic during basic training, due to living underground since birth and no amount of psycho surgery or  facist indoctrination could cure him (this was influenced by the Gorilla in the dumbo parade reattaching his bar in the film!).

He was offered one last chance to redeem himself before he was mind wiped to become a servitor. 

Dr. Gostellos first transporter. 45 minute kit bash

Was bored last night so spent 45 minutes with the bits box and a 1:50 scale Corgi Diecast and ended up with this. . . . 

Gone for a Mad Max feel and I like the look of the 'just paint over the previous owner' paint job which makes it look like it has been stolen / won in as poker game. 

Apart from the giant goat skull I am really pleased with it.

I will continue to paint it and want to try to duplicate the original Billy Smarts font and colour scheme.

One conclusion I have come to this summer after starting this project, with regards to my lead mountian is;

A) There are miniatures I am NEVER going to get round to painting! Solution = cut deep and sell.

B) There are miniatures I am REALLY excited about painting! Solution = paint them!

C) There are miniatures I HAVE to paint to complete armies for gaming etc. BUT bore the life out of me and I would rather stick pins in my eyes then paint!! Solution = With the new job, actually pay out for some commissions? I had a quick count up and there are about 180 miniatures which sit in this category.

I have Lano but if anyone else can recommend someone that would really help.

Miniature 150!!!! Rogue Trader era Space Ork

So I have finally cracked the 150 mark for miniatures painted or sold this year.

With it being a mile stone I decided it had to be an Ork!

Got to be honest I have never been a fan of the early Space Orks. I just found them really 'flat' and boring and have always prefered the more recent, dynamic, sculpts.

BUT this fella has really grown on me since I painted him and I now think he has a certain 'charm' to him. Not going to be paying some of the silly prices on ebay for these fellas but if I come across some going cheap I will certainly be more tempted to put a cheeky bid in.

Seeing as it had a lovely big shoulder pad on it I decided to go really old skool and paint the 'Luggubs drop legion' insignia on it to give it a proper Rouge Trader vibe.

Now the numbers,

Miniatures painted / sold this year = 150
Miniatures bought this year =35

514 miniatures to go!

 I have also had another serious look at my lead mountain and another load of stuff is now on ebay.

Dr. Gostello's amazing intergalactic psycho-circus. Foundry Alice White and the slippery Dwarfs

On a bit of a whim I have started to put together Dr. Gostello's Amazing Intergalactic Psycho-Circus.

This has very much been inspired by my visit to BOYL 15 this month and soaking up all the old skool goodness.

What is 'Dr. Gostello's Amazing Intergalactic Psycho-Circus?' I hear you ask (probably not!).

Drunk on eBay. . . . .

Oops!...I did it again,
I played with your heart, got lost in the game

Oops!

I have had a bit of a wobble and fallen off the 'no new miniatures' wagon.

First I was at BOYL 2015 at the Foundry on Sunday.

This resulted in me buying this lot. . . . .

Glue, lava jumps and cheating! Wacky Races at BOYL 15

Was up bright and early this morning to drive down to the Foundry in order to have a mooch around BOYL 15.

With the roads to myself at 6:30 in the morning, I had a little bit of a warm up for Death Race 40,000, and made the drive in less time then suggested by my Sat Nav.

Space Crusade Orks. Better sculpts then Bloody Cygnar Long Gunners!

As I mentioned last post I am desperately trying to get selected mini's painted up in order to finish off as many forces as possible before I start my new job in September.

Trouble is I hit a bit of a road block so turned to these fellas in order to keep my momentum up.

So thats little fella's Ork boyz finished (funnily enough they are called 'Troy and the Boyz').

I did have a real go at the faces but there was only so far my average painting skills will go.

The good news is my son is pleased with them but now he wants a trukk for them to ride round in!

With regards to my road block it's these fellas. . . .

Their a combination of Reaper IMEF marines and GW Scions. Their all gorgeous sculpts but I am REALLY struggling with the colour scheme as I want them painted in high vis clothing so they can fulfill several roles in upcoming games I have planned. I will keep plugging away at them but if they mess with my mojo too much they may have to go back in the lead pile!

Oh, me and the boy also got distracted making pet rocks!

Rex the fish and Rocky the crab. Our new pet rocks

We were only supposed to glue some eyes on some rocks we found on a walk but one thing lead to another and here we are!

Numbers time,

Miniatures painted / sold this year = 142
Miniatures bought this year = 20

507 miniatures to go!

As an aside I am also off to BOYL at the Foundry tomorrow. Should be fun to indulge in some old skool nostalgia.

line them up and I'll knock 'em off

Only four days into the summer and look what I get done.

Why do I work again?

First up two SAGA Norman archers.

Which means the fellas below now become Norman mercenary archers. . . . .

The trouble with this is I now have to paint up eleven Viking Bondi to fill out my proposed six points of SAGA Vikings.

Just to add to the rain of arrows I also got eight Norman Crossbowmen finished.

I originally wanted them to have tan leather jerkins but it's on its last legs so they got 'boot strap' leather instead. Unfortunately it does not look as good as the tan when painted over large areas.

But they look ok (ish) when viewed from the back (which I mostly stare at).

With me being me, I had to knock out a couple of Orkz.

The above boyz sees me finish off enough Orks to play the Rouge Trader 'Battle of the Farm', which I hope to get to play this summer.

While I was painting, my boy come in and had a go at me for not painting up his orkz yet (something I had been promising since Christmas!).

This meant I had to paint at least one to appease him.

Considering it is an old Space Crusade plastic and I had to paint on most of the face detail it's looking ok. I have 5 more of these to do and I am tempted to really have a go to town on the faces and see if I can paint the faces to a good standard. Time will tell.

I had to laugh when I asked him what colours he wanted and he insisted on MC Hammer style gold trousers!

Maybe it's because it's from the 80's but it seems to work.

The good news is I have landed a new job which is going to be paying proper money so I should not be skint for much longer.

The bad news is my old job was an absolute doss, but you only get so much money for old rope!

This means I will be losing my evenings and weekends again. I want to keep the gaming up but I think my painting will really slow down.

I have made a hit list of stuff I want to get finished over the summer but I will see what I get finished.

Now the numbers

Miniatures painted / sold this year = 137
Miniatures bought this year = 20

512 miniatures to go!